Google Desktop, Privacy, and You

G

generalcliche

Guest
Google Desktop, a tool designed to:
desktop.google.com said:
# Find your email, files, web history and chats instantly
# View web pages you've seen, even when you're not online
# Search as easily as you do on Google

may not respect your privacy to the fullest degree. Details at The Register here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/15/google_desktop_privacy/
Google's Desktop represents a privacy disaster just waiting to happen, a rival has warned. David Burns, Copernic CEO, says users should know that the giant ad broker intends to mix public and private queries in the future, leveraging its key moneyspinning product: contextual advertising.

"If you lined people and said, 'Stick your hand up if you want Google to know what pictures you have, and what MP3 files you have,' I don't think many would." Burns had offered these capabilities to partners before, but received some pushback.

Google Desktop Search allows users to opt out of sending the company back detailed usage data, but it isn't possible to firewall it completely. Much more ominously, reckons Burns, Google's product manager Marissa Mayer said she expected the private queries to generate more hits for google.com. Most people, she believed, would choose to combine personal and web searches resulting in more revenue for Google's ad business.

Slashdot also has an interesting discussion regarding the application

In short, and all tinfoil hats aside, you probably want to stay away from this, at least for the time being, while it is examined/revised more closely.
 
Findakáno said:
Meh it's list of incompatibility of software that I use is too long for me to even consider to using it.
Still, its rather discomforting the list of things it indexes.
 
Originally Posted by desktop.google.com
# Find your email, files, web history and chats instantly
# View web pages you've seen, even when you're not online
# Search as easily as you do on Google

Interesting, but I don't have any problems finding the abovementioned items, I don't really need to view web pages when I'm not online, and Google is just fine without using a "desktop".

I don't like ANY program that appears to compromise my privacy :mad:
 
crap. pure crap for the most part. sure its possible but some people ar plain uptight. Just like that slashdot blurb on that you can use it to steal info from others on the pc. They never did say that it was suitable for multi use enviroments. if you think about it you should know what it does.
 
Onnotangu said:
cuet..another fun thing for the morons at work to install on teh pcs.
And the perfect compliment to their Gator.
 
Onnotangu said:
cuet..another fun thing for the morons at work to install on teh pcs.
that's what I was thinking. Yet another thing for help desk to uninstall at every chance they get. It'll be a perfect compliment to "add 1,000's of emoticons to your outlook emails"