Privacy Group Asks F.T.C. to Investigate Google

According to the New York Times, "The Electronic Privacy Information Center formally asked the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to investigate the privacy and security safeguards of Gmail, Google Docs and other so-called cloud computing services offered by Google to consumers."

As cloud computing services become more popular, it is important to understand that security breaches can and do occur in these services. Google and other cloud computing service providers will tell you that their services are more safe than storing data on your own hard drive. However, recent incidents, including Google's admissions that some Google Docs users had their private data exposed to others, call these claims into question.

There is no question that cloud computing holds tremendous promise, but until security and privacy questions about these services are more fully resolved I do not recommend throwing out your hard drive anytime in the near future.