OK. I really want better information and Gmail would give me access to Google's search engine to keep track of my email, thus allowing me to forget about email filing. It has potential to help with my spam problem. Google geeks are a lot more trustworthy than the credit info people for sure. And I am the adventurous sort and already reveal on my websites and blogs plenty of personal information that is being archived right now.
But even I was given pause today when I read Andrew Orlowski's April 3rd Guardian post: Google mail is evil – privacy advocates. These three excerpts raise four interrelated issues that worry me enough to back away slowly:
Issue #1: Privacy destroying power of combining so much personal data under one roof and #2: law enforcement access to it.
Google's cookie is an index for all your searches until 2038, and sits alongside an Orkut cookie that tells Google - or friendly law enforcement officials or marketeers - exactly who you are. Google's Gmail will complete the picture, indexing private electronic discourse under the main Google search cookie.Issue #3: Residual copies that last far into the future. Gmail's privacy policy says:
The contents of your Gmail account also are stored and maintained on Google servers in order to provide the service. Indeed, residual copies of email may remain on our systems, even after you have deleted them from your mailbox or after the termination of your account.Issue #4: What if Google merges with or is acquired by an *evil* company? Archivist Daniel Brandt:
While Google brags that no humans will read your emails, the entire Gmail program will involve extensive automated profiling of you as an individual. Google will be sharing the non-identifiable portions of your profile with anyone they choose. If the ownership of Google changes, or there is a merger, the entire personally-identifiable profile will be available to the new owners or partners.Too bad. I'll keep you posted if I can't resist.
