Tag Archives: security
Will Privacy Concerns Play a Role in Chrome OS’s Popularity?
Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Daniel Cawrey. 
2 Comments
Over the weekend I had a chance to watch the CNBC program “Inside the Mind of Google” that was very in-depth and insightful, explaining not only the basic business tenets of the company but also delving into where the company is going in the future. They spent some time looking at the vetting process for Google Goggles, which allows you to send photos taken with your smartphone straight to a query which brings back Google search results.
The most intriguing portion of the hour-long show was its look into the privacy issues that face Google. They spent some time exploring some issues that although I was aware of, I never really spent a lot of time considering. The reality is that people put things into the query box that they would not tell those closest to them, even their doctor. CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say:
“I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines — including Google — do retain this information for some time and it’s important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.”
I like Google. I really do. I think they are doing some interesting things, and I want to see Chrome OS be successful. I think it has potential to be something really special and different from the way that we experience the internet as well as computer interfaces right now. When I first heard these words, I didn’t really think much about them. But the reality is that we all need to have our privacy, and I’m not quite sure I’m comfortable with this view of privacy. Security expert Bruce Schnier has offered his opinion, offering a rebuttal on his website to Schmidt’s quote above. You can check it out yourself, but Schnier essentially says that there are indeed elements of our life that are private and that we have to that privacy if we so choose.
This puts Google and its intentions in the spotlight. If Chrome OS is to be put on netbooks, smartbooks or some other networked device – your data will be on their servers since the central element of the operating system is to be a catalyst to put everything into the cloud to make a system that is faster and lighter than existing options that are out there today.
I don’t disagree with this idea, I actually think it is a good one. But there needs to be standards that ensure my data is properly protected. Who knows where that information may reside in twenty years? There are going to be people that are going to have problems with this idea, and I don’t blame them, and I hope we get some clear guidelines regarding privacy as we get closer to a release date for Chrome OS.
What do you think? Are you concerned about your data being in the cloud?
