Google Desktop Search Functions As Spyware

dioscaido writes "Users of the Google Desktop Search software beware -- it indexes your files across all users on your PC, bypassing user protections. The Google cache feature allows all users to browse the contents of messages and files it has indexed, irrespective of who is logged in. 'This is not a bug, rather a feature,' says Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products. 'Google Desktop Search is not intended to be used on computers that are shared with more than one person.'" Reminds me of a Neal Stephenson essay: "The Hole Hawg is dangerous because it does exactly what you tell it to. It is not bound by the physical limitations that are inherent in a cheap drill, and neither is it limited by safety interlocks that might be built into a homeowner's product by a liability-conscious manufacturer. The danger lies not in the machine itself but in the user's failure to envision the full consequences of the instructions he gives to it."

Comments

Re:uhhh...sorta

[filtur]

Its beta toy tools stuff. You know, the kind that says "use at your own risk.

Like windows.......

That was too easy, ignore my post.

Re:Tin foil hats for everyone!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Jealous, are we? ;)

~m

Re:How is it spyware?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it phone home, sending entire indexes of your harddrive to google?

Yeah, then it kills your entire family and rapes your dog. Not being evil isn't as easy as it sounds I guess.

Re:Google Desktop seems useful.

[Peyna]

It would be cool if you could put txts and docs into a special folder acessible to the outside world.

Gee, if only someone could make some kind of program that could make files on your computer accessible to the outside world.