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Wouldja trust Google with ALL your HD data?
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View this Thread in Original format
| emc^2 |
Google seems to think so...
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By Eric Auchard
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Google Inc. is preparing to offer online storage to Web users, creating a mirror image of data stored on consumer hard drives, according to company documents that were mistakenly released on the Web.
The existence of the previously rumored GDrive online storage service surfaced after a blogger discovered apparent notes in a slide presentation by Google executives published on Google's site after its analysts presentation day last Thursday.
"With infinite storage, we can house all user files, including emails, web history, pictures, bookmarks, etc and make it accessible from anywhere (any device, any platform, etc)," the notes in the original Google presentation state.
Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in his presentation made a cryptic comment that one goal of Google was to "store 100 percent" of consumer information.
Copies of the notes were captured by a handful of bloggers and shared around the Web. The company subsequently took down its original PowerPoint slide presentation and replaced it with a 94-page Adobe Acrobat file, devoid of the speaker notes.
When asked to confirm plans for a GDrive, a Google spokeswoman declined to comment on any specific service but confirmed that presentation containing the notes had been mistakenly released on the Web.
"We deleted the slide notes because they were not intended for publication," Google spokeswoman Lynn Fox said. The deleted presentation had appeared on Google's investor relations site at http://investor.google.com/ppt/20060302_analyst_day.ppt
"We are constantly working on new ways to enhance our products and services for users, but have nothing to announce at this time," she said.
The retracted management notes go on to state that GDrive is one of several efforts in this direction but faces bandwidth constraints for many users with slower network speeds.
Google could save users from potential computer data crashes by keeping a "golden copy" of user data on Google's centralised computers and rely on the user's local hard drive simply for speedy access to one's data, the notes state.
Recently Google began offering an optional service that stores copies of the text portions of a computer user's data on Google's computers. The service lets users search data stored on local computers from other machines via Google accounts.
While offering more convenient access to user data, the service stoked debate about the dangers of users storing so much of their digital lives on Google machines.
Google recently squared up against the U.S. Justice Department which has subpoenaed a limited set of data on Google search habits, drawing an outcry from privacy advocates.
Meanwhile Microsoft Corp.'s new version of the Windows operating system, called Vista, will emphasise a Web-like search instead of its traditional folder-based navigation.
Google might offer similar services but shift the primary location of user data from the Windows desktop to Google's own computers.
(Additional reporting by Tom Nguyen in San Diego)
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Linky
...and so it begins... (my paranoia of Google as the next "Big Brother"). Thanks, but I can afford to pay for my storage without sacrificing my privacy, but thanks anyway Goog. Oh, and people who can't figure out how to make their data accessible online without reliance on Google and sacrificing their privacy deserve to be AOL'ed. :rolleyes: |
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| Jocker |
| but you can easily restrict the permissions so that the application cannot access certain files/folders, and enctrypt them if you are that paranoid.:) |
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| emc^2 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jocker
but you can easily restrict the permissions so that the application cannot access certain files/folders, and enctrypt them if you are that paranoid.:) |
I'm paranoid enough to do the same on my local HD and not leave it flopping out in the wind. The only thing I can see that being useful for is sharing livesets, pictures, non-important stuff.
My furniture pr0n will not be televised (or widely accessible online)! :toothless |
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| emc^2 |
p.s. some SAN company must be making a killing over there.
Oh, and Google does begin to scare me... Imagine the vast wealth of info they got right now. Imiagine the possibilities... That company is a monster, dressed in Jocker's (no pun intended) clothes.
I am a firm believer in "Trust no one" credo. :nervous: |
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| Porky |
i've cried many sleepless nights after a hard drive crashes
i wouldn't mind having google archive certain files, like word documents, that i know will be stored on fault tolerant drives so i know that they will always be there |
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| sensorium |
| "mistakenly released on the Web"? There is no such thing in companies like this one. It is all intentional. The spread of this news is growing and the hype of this new product will most likely make it a success when it's finally released. |
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| emc^2 |
| quote: | Originally posted by sensorium
"mistakenly released on the Web"? There is no such thing in companies like this one. It is all intentional. The spread of this news is growing and the hype of this new product will most likely make it a success when it's finally released. |
can you blame them after the beating their stock took when Google made a prognosis of "slow growth"??? They are a publicly traded company now and have to run with the big dogs, which means all the requisite leaks and "oopsies" - anything to keep the ticker in the green. See how their stock is doing since this cat got out of the bag...:rolleyes: Dirty, Microsoft-smelling tactics FTL :mad: |
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