On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:12:58 +0100 Mark Rogers mark@quarella.co.uk allegedly wrote:
My "data" seems to me to be much more secure now than it was when I ran my own server which I never had the time to maintain properly - a few apt-get update's perhaps, but I feel that my data is safer with Google in much the same way I think my money is safer in a bank than under a mattress. And in terms of retaining full access to my data, I've never had any problems getting stuff out of Google that I've put in, so it's nothing like the walled gardens of the likes of Apple.
Interesting analogy. If I give my money to a bank, it is safe from loss (which is what I care most about here). Whilst the bank has my money, it can use it as it sees fit (it is supposed to use it to lend to others to help them, but things seem to have become much more complex of late.)
However, if I remove my money, the bank no longer has it and can no longer use it.
If I give google my data it may be (theoretically) safer against loss, but I no longer have the right to remove that data. And even if I could, the nature of the data is such that google can replicate it with ease and continue to use it without my permission. And of course, they may already have handed copies of my data to a third party before I have attempted to delete it from their systems.
I find it intriguing that google's "data liberation" pages talk in terms of "moving data in or out" of its products, and not in terms of complete deletion or removal.
The points raised about whether or not I am in breach of UK law by allowing my business email to be managed on a non-UK hosted service is an interesting one though; does anyone have any pointers to relevant resources?
Try the UK Information Commissioner at www.ico.gov.uk
Mick
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