Consumer watchdogs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation are urging a boycott of Google's new Desktop Search program, citing privacy concerns. Is it really too risky to use the program?
In a post on the EFF's web site, Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston paints an Orwellian picture of the new "search across computers" feature that's part of the recently released Google Desktop 3.0 program. The feature allows you to search across all of your computers provided you take several steps to enable the capability.
While Bankston's post raises a number of legitimate concerns, the overall tone of the message leaves little doubt that the EFF's warning is biased, offering neither a fair nor balanced assessment of the new Google desktop search product. "Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation" reads the title, followed by a lead of "Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop."
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The EFF is to be lauded for alerting users to potential privacy concerns and risks in using the program. It's important to think carefully about your privacy and the potential risks you're taking when using something like the search between computers feature. And you should take steps to make sure that you've fully examined the options that allow you to keep your data private, and take advantage of them.
But the EFF has a broader agenda, and its over-the-top call for a boycott of Google Desktop 3 is both disingenuous and does a disservice to a genuinely useful program. Don't get me wrong—I agree with the EFF's broader mission, just not the way they're tarring Google in pursuit of their goals.
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There's no need to boycott Google Desktop 3. Think carefully before enabling the program's advanced features, but take disingenuous claims like "Google copies your hard drive" with a substantial block of salt.
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