 |
 |
The core principle of Goggle's success, and the part that worries Microsoft and should concern us [for different reasons] is search. Its a great tool that I use almost every day, but: electronic correspondance stored by a company external to MSU + sensitive data + government requests for data + corporate (e.g., recording industry) requests for data + AUP governed by corporate business practices, not MSU governance + the industry leader in delivering search results = potential loss of control of data + potential loss of privacy + potential for data to be searched, analyzed and used for non-MSU purposes I hate to be paranoid, but [since that is formally part of my job description] could we ever be absolutely, positively, 110% certain that MSU correspondance controlled by Goggle could never be used to identify dissidents or dissenting views for clients that potentially include corporations, foreign governments, or even our own government. Individuals choosing to use GMail or other systems on their own is fine, but a university policy to outsource email hosting must vault an awefully high bar for it to pass muster. I will gladly sacrifice some ease of use to ensure privacy and control of the server side dataset. Now, pardon me while I wave at the camera mounted on that roof top just across the parking lot [just kidding]. back to the bit mines, /bob