"Today we're very pleased to announce the launch of Google Desktop 3 Beta. The new version comes loaded with features that make finding and sharing information even easier and more fun than before," says the official Inside Google Desktop blog.
One of the new features is Search Across Computers, which "makes it seamless to search the content of your documents and web history from any of your computers". Of course, you can't search one of your computers remotely if it happens to be turned off, say, so Google will kindly store your hard drive files on one of its Desktop servers. This applies to your Web history (from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, and Mozilla); Microsoft Word documents; Microsoft Excel spreadsheets; Microsoft PowerPoint presentations; PDF files and Text files in My Documents. It won't store data from secure (https) pages.
The reaction in the blogosphere is likely to be along the lines of TechCrunch's Privacy is Dead(er).
Even if Google isn't evil (or more evil than is commercially necessary), this idea also relies on Google being invulnerable to hackers (including the ones that work for the CIA), and also able to fend off government agencies with subpoenas trawling for information.
Of course, you also have to be able to protect and defend your own computers, even when you are out of the house/office. Otherwise the person who nicks your notebook PC may also get access to critical files on your desktops.... including that little Notepad file where you keep all your pins and passwords.
