Google Desktop 3 Adds Power, Privacy Concerns

February 10, 2006

Yesterday Google released its Google Desktop 3 Beta�software, adding powerful new features but provoking privacy concerns at the same time.

One of the most attractive features of the new Desktop Search product is that it allows a user to search across multiple computers (see Google's press release here for other details about the new application's capabilities).

As a mobile professional who uses more than one computer, this capability is heading in a direction I've longed for for years. In 2006 it astonishes me that I still need to fret over which computer has that file I was working on, where is that email I need to refer to, how can I get at that old document or image from three years ago, how come my bookmarks don't follow me wherever I go, what do I with all my documents, settings, bookmarks, templates and so on when I buy a new computer and have to set it up?

Well, Google Desktop 3 Beta is obviously a long ways away from that longed-for state of computing ubiquity, but it does show a consciousness of the user's need to be liberated from the prison of the individual device.

That said, those pesky consumer advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)�have raised privacy concerns about the new Google Desktop. Reason is that in order to allow searching across multiple computers, Google has to be able to store copies of�your documents on its own servers. EFF urges consumers not to use "Search Across Computers" as it "will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password."

Google's privacy policy for Desktop Search says that "Google treats the contents of your indexed files as personal information, in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy." And Google's general privacy policy says that Google "may use personal information to provide the services you've requested, including services that display customized content and advertising" and "may also share information with third parties in limited circumstances, including when complying with legal process, preventing fraud or imminent harm, and ensuring the security of our network and services."

So the EFF's concerns do raise a somewhat disturbing specter -- better think this one out before committing to "Search Across Computers"!

By the way, the day before the new Google Desktop Search 3 Beta release, Rich Tehrani wrote a great analysis of Google's big-picture strategy, especially as it relates to competition with Microsoft.

AB -- 2/10/06