Google`s Search Across Computers, a Privacy Faux Pas?
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Since Google released their Desktop Search 3, nearly everyone has become a security expert and criticized the software feature allowing you to search across your computers. I’ve seen little actual exploration of the feature, and it’s about time people take a real look into it. Search Across Computers (SAC) is
not the security problem that it has been made out to be. This article demonstrates the software and evaluates the risk.
It’s amazing how many people can be outraged by Google’s Desktop 3 compromising their privacy without having used it. Speculation is flying around the net about how a search company wants to steal all your information, but far fewer people have really evaluated the feature. When searching for other people’s experiences with SAC, I found one thread on a newsgroup explaining how to install it and literally dozens of people asking how to disable it. The most informative articles are ones that copy and paste Google’s press statements and help pages.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a loss of some privacy—which Google even admits to—but most people’s concerns are overstated and based on hype. A great example of zealots enraged by SAC is the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). They called for a complete boycott of the software:
If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully—and most people won't—Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. (Source: EFF)
As we’ll see once I start showing how Google Desktop works, this state of alarm is simply ridiculous and uninformed. They do make a good point eventually, which I’ll address later. Another company, who is a little less silly, is Gartner. They say they software is a security risk for businesses:
The risk to enterprises, according to Gartner, lies in how this shared information is pooled by Google. The data is transferred to a remote server, where it is stored and can then be shared between users for up to 30 days.
Gartner said in a report on Thursday that the "mere transport (of data) outside the enterprise will represent an unacceptable security risk to many enterprises," as intellectual property could be transported out of the business. (Source: CNet)
Again, the risk is severely overrated. The article says the information can be shared between users, when in fact it cannot. It can only be accessed by one Google user. Equally damaging internet technology already exists and is in common use. Read on to see why.
Next: Installation and Setup of SAC >>
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