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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Message from Rick Nornholm
-------------------------------<br>
Many of us use and benefit from tools and services from the Google
Corporation, but I recommend that you do not use or install the recently
released "Google Desktop" on any computer than contains UCR
data. Please read the following and contact Kenneth Wolfrom if you
have any questions.<br>
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<a href="http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_02.php#004400" eudora="autourl">
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_02.php#004400</a><br><br>
February 09, 2006<br><br>
Google Copies Your Hard Drive<br><br>
Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop<br><br>
San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its
Google Desktop<br>
software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a
consumer<br>
chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature
will store<br>
copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other
text-based<br>
documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of
the<br>
user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because
it<br>
will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the<br>
government and possibly private litigants, while providing a
convenient<br>
one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google
password.<br><br>
"Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government
snooping<br>
into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users
to<br>
now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said
EFF Staff<br>
Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers
feature and<br>
don't configure Google Desktop very carefully-and most people
won't-Google<br>
will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business
records,<br>
financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents
the<br>
Desktop software can index.<br>
The government could then demand these personal files with only a
subpoena<br>
rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things
from<br>
your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified
in<br>
time to challenge it. Other litigants-your spouse, your business partners
or<br>
rivals, whoever-could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and
subpoena<br>
Google for your files."<br><br>
The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy
Act<br>
of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and
other<br>
files that are stored with online service providers-much less privacy
than<br>
the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer
at<br>
home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear
if<br>
Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not
yet<br>
scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve
targeted<br>
advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's
current<br>
privacy policy appears to allow it.<br><br>
"This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital
age,"<br>
said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Many Internet innovations
involve<br>
storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under
outdated<br>
laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to
surrender<br>
their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store
copies<br>
of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs,
and<br>
still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that
Congress<br>
update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired
world."<br><br>
For more on Google's data collection:<br>
<a href="http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+is+not+your+friend/2100-1025_3-60346" eudora="autourl">
http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+is+not+your+friend/2100-1025_3-60346</a>
<br>
66.html?tag=nl<br>
<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google_subpoena_ro" eudora="autourl">
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google_subpoena_ro</a>
<br>
ils_the_web<br>
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/0" eudora="autourl">
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/0</a>
<br>
1/20/EDGEPGPHA61.DTL<br>
<a href="http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+force+Web+sites+to+delete+personal+inf" eudora="autourl">
http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+force+Web+sites+to+delete+personal+inf</a>
<br>
o/2100-1028_3-6036951.htm</blockquote><br><br>
<b>Rick Nornholm<br>
</b>Director, VCSA Technology Services<br>
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