Techdirt:The Potential Of Google Sync To Be Used For Both Good And Evil

Techdirt:The Potential Of Google Sync To Be Used For Both Good And Evil: "The Potential Of Google Sync To Be Used For Both Good And Evil
(Mis)Uses of Technology Contributed by Mike on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 @ 09:24AM
from the linking-up dept.
When Google first launched its desktop search product over a year ago, some wondered if it would end up being a gateway to accessing data on your desktop from other devices, such as mobile phones. While Google hadn't said much about it, it now looks like they may be moving in that general direction. The company has launched a new product that turns the Google desktop product into a tool for linking and syncing data on different machines. Right now, it appears to just be computer to computer, but it's not hard to see how this could expand much further as well. What's interesting, though, and perhaps a bit problematic, is that Google is storing data on its own servers for about 30 days in order to do this -- rather than doing direct peer-to-peer. This has the advantage of allowing people to sync, even when a machine is offline. However, it also raises some questions. While some think that makes it compelling, as it will allow a number of new applications to be developed, others worry about it, in light of the recent attempt by the government to get access to Google data. This might be a case where they're both right."