From the Guardian
Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.
The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.
We can't trust (yet) trust the US Government with our private information and Google seriously thinks we're just going to hand over our files in the name of progress?
There have been a couple of recent diaries, here and here on Google's progress on different projects.
The upcoming 2009 release of GDrive "would enable people to access and update all their information such as emails, photographs, music, documents and spreadsheets from any device with an internet connection" by storing the information in an internet "cloud" and accessing it as desired.
TG Daily describes the possibilities with the new technology...
Gdrive is basically a cloud-based storage that should have two faces: A desktop client that keeps local and online files and folders in two-directional sync via a web interface for accessing your desktop files anywhere and anytime, using any network-enabled computer. In addition, it will come tightly integrated with other Google services to enable editing of supported document types, like spreadsheets and presentations via Google Docs, email via Gmail, images via Picasa Web Albums, etc.
This opens powerful possibilities. For instance, you could start working on a spreadsheet at home and continue via Gdrive web interface accessed in an Internet cafe. When you arrive back home, changes to the spreadsheet have already trickled down from the cloud to your desktop. The idea, of course, is all but revolutionary, but Google's execution could set it apart.
How safe is a cloud? From the Telegraph UK
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.. some believe that trusting Google with so much personal or commercial data is dangerous, arguing information is not as safe in the cloud as it is in a computer.
Peter Brown, of the Free Software Foundation charity, said: "Does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?"
The company was accused of breaching users' privacy after it was revealed it scanned private Google Mail accounts to offer customers targeted advertisements.