Google Desktop
A new technology from Google; potential privacy issue for you
Today a great tool has been release by Google: The Google Desktop.
Now think about it. Someone do a program (legitimate or not). This program gets an access to the search index of the Google Desktop. He builds a distributed network with theses indexes. This distributed network can be browsed like the Kazaa network or any other distributed network. Think about the implication of such a network. Think about the information that you can search for. The perspective is awesome but also fearful. It's probably an overview of the future world, fully networked and searchable.
Okay, comeback on earth. One problem is that it centralizes de information and made search really easy and fast. Problems can arise if anybody can have a physical access to your computer station. Then, your coworkers, boss or any other person can really easily search for a specific thing on your desktop. Have in mind that they need a physical access. It’s why doing a WindowsKey-L to lock your computer when you are not at your desktop station is a good security/privacy habit to have. As long as your computer is secure, you’ll not have any problem with the software.
One good point for your privacy is that you can choose what you want to include in the index. Go to your preference page and read the help to know how. Another one is that when he cache files he get a reference on it and don’t duplicate the information so if you delete the file he is no longer in the index file. It’s sure that there is possibly some information in the index but I doubt that this can cause problems. Finally you can manually remove individual items of the index when you perform search on it. Take in mind that Google add the information of the search result of google.com and the search result of your desktop when the browser gets the information back from Google. This said, Google never know what the search result was for your desktop, and then your privacy is safe.
I'll do the same advice as the one I provided with the A9 post, be aware of what you are using on your computer. By the why I'm already converted to the Google Desktop and I’ll use it for sure (for the moment a less).
[In addition to the post: 16 October 2004]
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Read the part 2 of this new little saga.
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