[Infowarrior] - Google's Gdrive (and Its Ad Potential) Raise Privacy Concerns

[Richard Forno]

Google's Gdrive (and Its Ad Potential) Raise Privacy Concerns
By Wayne Ma
Published on: November 29, 2007

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4234444.html


It¹s still shrouded in secrecy, but Google¹s free storage service is headed
for the Web next year. Still, if the so-called Gdrive becomes as rapidly
popular as the company¹s e-mail service has in the past three years, what
happens to your secrets? The prospect of a massive, speedy and tricked-out
online hard drive already has privacy experts and illegal downloaders alike
worried‹especially if all that data is in the hands of a third-party giant
and its cash cow to compete with Apple and Microsoft.

With the rumor mill buzzing over the virtual drive¹s advertising model and
storage capacity, Google isn¹t commenting just yet on any plans. But the
company already lets users buy extra space for its e-mail and photo
services. ³Each of the services has its own free bucket,² Google spokesman
Jason Freidenfelds tells PM. To start, users get more than 5 GB for Gmail
and 1 GB for Picasa. Once they reach the limit, they can purchase a yearly
plan, similar to Apple¹s Mac accounts, to store the overflow. Google Docs,
the company¹s foray into online word processing and spreadsheet
applications, doesn¹t place strict limits on space. But ³it makes sense² to
eventually put it all under one roof, Freidenfelds says.

Online storage services already exist, but most are touted as remote backup
solutions‹and sometimes serve as virtual warehouses for hackers and
copyrighted media files. Services like Omnidrive, MediaMax and Box.Net
already offer some advanced features such as encryption and on-the-fly
editing. But the Gdrive¹s functionality is likely to launch on a much larger
scale: Google could try to edge out big competitors‹such as Microsoft¹s
Web-based photo and video offerings and its new Windows Live Skydrive‹by
making a one-stop shop for everything from document and photo editing to
video and e-mail viewing.

But portability is the key, and the Gdrive might well be part of a larger
plan to push computer use into a data cloud, untethered from individual
devices. Coupled with Google¹s open-source Android operating system for
mobile phones, the Gdrive fits nicely with power users looking to access
their files anytime, anywhere.

Keeping your data on the Web protects you from losing your files after a
computer crash or physical theft, and Google takes the security and privacy
of its users¹ information seriously. ³We have a very strong track record
when it comes to protecting users¹ data,² Freidenfelds says, adding that
users¹ trust in Web apps is ³about where we were when people started
realizing that their money was safer in a bank than under their mattress.²
But that¹s not stopping online rights advocates from raising eyebrows
worldwide.

Trusting information with a third-party client can still expose you to
thorny legal challenges such as a subpoena. Unlike a search warrant for your
off-line hard drive, which is far more restrictive and difficult to obtain,
Google could perhaps be persuaded by law enforcement to deliver up your
files‹without even telling you.

³Google would be wise to offer users an option to encrypt your information,²
says Nimrod Kozlovski, a professor of Internet law at Tel Aviv University.
³It really needs to have really detailed explanations of what the legal
expectations are for storing your info.²

Physical hard drives and e-mail services already offer encryption for users
via software like BitLocker for Windows Vista and PGP for e-mail. Having
your own encryption key for data would make it harder for others to
access‹and almost useless to hackers, Kozlovski says.

Then there¹s the trickier part: How does giving away storage translate into
profits for Google? The company could potentially serve up contextualized
ads to Gdrive users similar to its Gmail service and the Ad Words search
model that made Google a giant in the first place. In this case, a computer
might scan through all your files for relevant keywords, in a move that¹s
certain to spook privacy advocates, who tend to give Google a free pass
compared with some of its competitors.

Still, Kozlovski insists, the lack of human eyes will prevent Google from
being held responsible for illegal or infringing material on your hard
drive. ³Google will not be liable unless they have knowledge of the material
on your hard drive,² he says, adding that the company isn¹t obligated to
actively search for illegal or copyrighted files unless users share them
publicly. And even then, the potential for abuse is low, because Google can
easily trace back accounts to those who sign up for them. ³I don¹t think
it¹s an attractive scenario for users to use online storage as a sharing
facility,² Kozlovski says. ³They would rather put it on the Web and give
other people access or links to it.²

Leaving files exclusively on a virtual drive or data cloud could,
eventually, usher in a new era of computing where mobile devices replace
large, clunky desktops sitting in offices and homes. A virtual drive means
that your cellphone, MP3 player and laptop all draw from the same data and
sync with one another seamlessly. Take a photo on your camera, and it¹s
ready to be retrieved by your laptop to edit. Create a spreadsheet on your
laptop, then add to it on your cellphone during your next train ride. The
Gdrive looks like it will take a quantum leap in that direction‹whether you
like it or not.