October 14, 2004

Can I Google Your Desktop

Google on Thursday announced the release of the first public Beta test for it's newest creation Google Desktop Search (GDS).
GDS is a small application, less than 400k, and allows users to access e-mail, office documents, visited websites and even MSN Messenger chat logs from within a web browser.
Essentially, when you run a search string on Google your search results will now include files and folders found on your computers harddrive.
Now as cool as this may sound, I for one wouldn't recommend downloading and installing this application purely from the stand point of privacy and security.
For example, if you run Windows XP with user accounts, and someone with a limited account initiates a search, they could access files and folders on the computer administrator's account, now that's just plain scary.
Imagine someone having complete access to your business e-mail and documents by just doing a search on Google from your computer.
Now normally I love everything Google does, and I am almost always involved with any sort of Beta test they offer, but I think this time I will definitely pass on the opportunity to install and run GDS.
But if your the adventurous type and feel you have nothing to hide you can download and test GDS here.