Don’t use Google Desktop

[danrok]

By Nick Farrell: Friday 10 February 2006, 13:58
THE Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned that people should not download Google Desktop because it "greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy".

A spokesEFF said that if the toolbar chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature stores copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers.

The EFF is concerned that it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government, which has already shown an interest in what Google keeps on his server.

On the EFF’s site here, a spokesperson said that it was shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers. µ

From:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29625

[Got EpOx]

It really doesn't surprise that Google would be accused of this one day, they already check our emails through the Google Mail service.

[Aedan]

Hold on - Google Toolbar, or Google Desktop?

EFF point out Google Desktop, not Google Toolbar

[Got EpOx]

Google toolbar doesn't send data back to the servers about our activities i was only aware that Google desktop did that.

[Aedan]

The thread accuses Google Toolbar in the title!

I wonder how they handle European users, given data protection laws in Europe are a lot stronger than in the US.

[danrok]

I just copied the thread title frim Inq!

Aedan, please change it if you can.

[Daniel ~]

In my view there is zero reason in our past collective experience with private information collectors to trust anyone with the information they gather! The temtations are to great, incompetence to common, government to invasive.

I visit my dentist, I am prescribed a pain killer, a hour after I get home 7 spam e-mails arrive on the the very pain killer I was prescribed. That for me was a watershed moment.

[danrok]

Personal data which may be protected today may not be in say 10 years time. The powers that be can change the laws as they see fit in the future, so they can get their paws on the info they want.

[Daniel ~]

Most information gathers will simply say yes to government rather than risk the IRS audit or other expressions of govenmental disfavor.IMHO