Saw this over at Mashable the other day. I had read about the story before, but was disappointed and a little shocked the courts ruled in favor of Google. I am a huge fan of Google. I think their Gmail is (relatively) flawless (except for this and this recently), I use Reader and Docs religiously, got an early Voice invitation (still sitting on two of them), am hoping for a Wave invite and recently set up an iGoogle homepage. I think the Fast Flip is pretty dope and am interested in the Sidewiki. On my Gmail and iGoogle pages I have a ton of useful widgets to customize the pages for what works for me.
I know the arguments against Google, against their data tracking and mining. It doesn’t/didn’t bother me. Some of my friends are afraid of the big brother syndrome. Others (Missy) is highly upset that Google collects, bundles and sells information about her. I guess… But I am willing to overlook it all because of the exceptional products and services they offer.
What bothers me about this case though, is that the user did nothing wrong. The bank fucked up. The bank erroneously sent the information to the wrong Google account. Yet the courts sided with the banks. Sometimes I don’t know why I am surprised by rulings like this any more.
Plus there’s questions about the security of Google Docs. Both from the question of someone being able to or finding a way to access documents, and also from the question of how far will Google go to protect their customers information and documents from the government and/or courts. If this case is any indicator, apparently your Google affairs aren’t that secure and Google won’t stand up or fight for the rights of the people that use their services.
Part 3!
Part II…
