The Hindu Business Line : Too snoopy for comfort, say some

Google's new version of its desktop search tool allows it to store copies of a user's files in the company's servers. This has drawn protests that it intrudes into the individual's privacy.

FOR nearly a decade, Google, the leading Internet search engine, has remained one of the most loved companies around the world. Its proclaimed motto, `Don't be Evil', encapsulates the spirit of Google, which Stanford alumni Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded to help people access the world's information by clicking a mouse button.

In all these years, Google has advanced step by step. From just being a search engine, it introduced a wide range of services and tools that leveraged the powers of the Internet. So much so that now Google is today widely perceived as an archrival to software giant Microsoft.

But after all these years of enjoying global goodwill, Google is now facing some strong criticism - from human rights groups, digital rights activists and some of its users.

First it was for the company's decision to insert advertisements in Gmail, after automatically scanning the words of an e-mail. Then the launch of a Chinese version complying with the Chinese Government's censorship rules drew flak.

When Google's Chinese arm's President, Kai-Fu Lee, spoke at Stanford University and US Berkeley, a large number of students protested, shouting slogans such as `Google, Don't be Evil.' Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders also came out strongly against Google's decision to bow to the Chinese Government.

Now, the latest criticism against Google has cropped up with regard to a new version of its desktop search tool. If the previous attack was for Google allegedly suppressing information in China, the present tirade is because the new application is perceived to be too snoopy, invading the privacy of individuals, like the ad insertion in Gmail.

A digital civil rights group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has warned users against the latest Google desktop search as it could compromise the privacy of users.

Search across computers

You may recall - or you could well be using it already - that Google had launched the desktop search tool in late 2004. This downloadable tool would help users locate their files hidden somewhere in their PCs by using the smart features of Google's Web search. Giving an update of this tool, Google recently introduced a new version of the desktop search — Google Desktop 3 — with a new feature, `Search Across Computers.'

Google says this feature is intended for people who regularly use multiple computers. "It helps users easily access information from all of their computers, so they don't need to remember where all of their documents are organised or filed," Google says.

But in order to use this feature of Google Desktop 3, users will have to agree to let Google transfer what they want to access from another computer — or let another person access it — to Google's storage system. Such transferred data will be encrypted and not be retained in Google storage for over 30 days. So once you agree to transfer, say, some of your work-related files, from your office PC to Google's servers, you can access the same from your home computer later by running a search. Or you may share it with your colleagues.

Critics of this feature say that it is too much to let Google get copies of a user's files and store them in the company's servers. The backdrop of this argument is the US Government asking Internet companies to provide data on netizen's search patterns. The US Department of Justice wants to use this data regarding an online pornography law to prove that minors have easy access to Internet pornography. The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that since present laws protecting such stored data are inadequate to protect a person's privacy, governments could force companies like Google to pass on information on people. Then also comes the risk of hacking that could expose your personal data.

However, Google is defending its new feature, saying that all the data transferred to and stored in its servers would be encrypted. Besides, Google will also automatically exclude password-protected files in a user's computer. Industry experts and analysts point out that the new facility will give more strength to Google to be an important tool in your computer, especially when the seamless integration of mobile phones, hand-held computers and desktops is now on. For Google, with a heavy market cap and shareholder expectations, the business proposition seems equally important as customer affection.

vipin@thehindu.co.in