Google Desktop, Privacy, Spooks, & EFF

Whose brilliant marketing mind decided that now was a good time to release a new product that will stir up the whole privacy issue even more? Did that marketing guru think about the fact that Google and privacy is being talked about by the mainstream media more than ever before? And now they bring this out? Geez, guys, you might want to wait a few months for the masses to forget before you do something like this. Oy.

IMO the subpoena threat is not as dangerous as it is being made out to be (although the privacy issue in general certainly is). google has already shown that it is willing to put up a fight against the US govt, and the larger the company grows, the less it will have to submit to governmental authority.

if google keeps blazing on the path that it's on -- pretty much owning every access point to the web, and then leveraging this to disrupt offline industries (i.e. google print ads) -- then many people are going to end up being more dependent upon google than they are on their countries. at that point google won't just be above the law -- it will be the law.

I don't get it. Can't you already search your own computer?

Or, better yet, make folders/directories for organizing your documents so that you don't have to search to find them?

That's what's always confused me, Diane. I'm not the most organized person in the world, but I kind of know into which shoebox I've stuffed things.

it's been pointed out that Google is only a corporation, and it can change ownership someday. What happens to its policies and its vast repository of info then?

Corporations are creations of law, and no US corporation can stand up to the Feds purely on gumption, only the law can do that - e.g., an administration enjoined by a court order, itself overturned by the Supreme Court, the ultimate Federal entity.

Google is way too cavalier with holding data, it will cave under the first real threat - the answer is keep your data out of Google, and fight for privacy in the general principles of evolving law, and through politics.

The thing that's weird to me is this feature is opt-in--it's off by default (and I think data is deleted after 30 days). But the press release the EFF sent out doesn't make that very clear.

EFF, almost by definition, is biased, Matt. To them, hell, this thing is like waving bloody steak in front of PETA. That said, I don't think I'll be downloading it.

I'm really disappointed with the privacy hysteria these days. I thought SEO was a thinking game. Sure privacy is great and all, but I for one think - no wait, know that this feature is gonne be bloody useful. If I have sensitive documents I might tell Google not to index them, or then I might not. Really, I just don't give a shit if G indexes them to serve me more relevant ads. To be honest, relevant ads are a whole lot more useful than irrelevant ones.

And I will personally buy anyone whos data gets released to the feds from a subpoena one of these.

I just deleted Google Desktop today and even took a screenie of it taking its last breath, it said "Are you sure you want to do this to me Aaron"? Yes I do, DIE DIE DIE!!!! ...cuz storing data on Google is evil, Matt is correct, they needed to make things more clear.