US Government permission to look at people's documents

Search giant Google's new consumer service that allows users to store photos, videos, and other digital files in the Internet 'cloud', could allow US law enforcement agencies to access your data, without your knowledge and without the need for a warrant, an expert has claimed. David Asprey, the inventor of one of the first cloud computing services TrendMicro cloud evangelist, said that the terms of use of Google Drive "destroys any expectation of privacy because you license your data to a third party". "You give Google full right to do whatever they want to do with your data and of course one of those things is to give your information to law enforcement without a subpoena," news.com.au quoted Asprey, as saying. "By signing up to Google Drive, users give the tech giant a global license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify or create derivative works and to publish, publicly perform and distribute that content," he added.

Asprey said the new terms of service extended the reach and power of the Patriot Act - which was passed shortly after September 11, 2001, giving the US Government permission to look at people's documents without their knowledge or permission. Meanwhile, Google said they comply with US laws and legal processes 'just like any law-abiding company'. "We have a track record of advocating on behalf of user privacy in the face of law enforcement requests (including but not limited to US Dept of Justice subpoenas)," Google said in a statement. "We look at each request to be sure they adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law before complying. We do our best to notify the subject named in any such requests in order to give them the opportunity to object," it added.

Source: The Times of India