[Mika]

Link

I sure hope we can get a better confirmation of this from larger news companies before jumping to conclusions.

But if this is true, the question goes, are any of us really surprised?

I predict a rather marked decrease in interest towards cloud computing, regardless if this piece of news is true or not.

[JCDNWarrior]

Some claim Google is (part of) the NSA. It's a thought that could be taken in consideration with news such as this. With all those Google bots roaming forums, I wonder if (if possible) we should start to block them from access, or would that hurt the forum?

[Dragon]

Considering HLP is making money from Google ads, it may not be a good idea.

[Bobboau]

simple solution, strong client side encryption.

[Dragon]

Besides, what is in HLP user data besides EMail and (unrealiable) info about place where one is from. I doubt that anything important could be extracted from here.
This info would most likely kill Google+ though.

[Bobboau]

because facebook isn't doing this.

[Mika]

simple solution, strong client side encryption.

There is an even simpler solution: do not connect and put anything important to the internet. I'd be interested to know how long does it take for the companies coding those encryption softwares to open the encrypted files, passwords or no. National security is a serious consideration, you know.

Let's see if this news is reported elsewhere.

Yeah, it is true that the Facebook is probably even worse. Even the copyrights in case of Facebook are a question to me.

[The E]

*ahem*

At the center of this problem is the USA PATRIOT ACT, which states that companies incorporated in the United States must hand over data administered by their foreign subsidiaries if requested.

In other words, it's not Google being evil, it's US legislators being dumb.

because facebook isn't doing this.

See above. If asked, facebook would HAVE to.

[Dragon]

That's why I stayed away from both of them. 
If I'll ever have an account, I'll most likely not put anything there except my name, date of birth (but then, that's also on HLP, and not really a "sensitive data", just make sure BI doesn't find out, because I'm technically too young for ArmA ) and a picture in some kind of face-concealing gear (like USMC-style ASG gear I'm planning to get someday).

[Grizzly]

USA PATRIOT ACT,

Isn't that one going to run out after a while?

[The E]

It did. It was renewed without much discussion. So it's not going to run out for a while.

[Luis Dias]

So the new mantra of Google should be "Do no evil unless asked to do so by the government"

[The E]

Why is it Google's fault when they are complying with local laws?

Note that technically, they wouldn't even have to tell you about what they did.

[Luis Dias]

Would you say the same if they abided by the chinese laws?

[KyadCK]

If google were primarily based is China, and by law google were required to hand over information, then it is still not google's fault. Users should know about things like this, and it may persuade some people to not use the service, but in no way does the blame fall on google for following the law.

[The E]

Yep. But since that's a hypothetical issue (since Google isn't incorporated in China), I fail to see the relevance. In the end, they had to comply with american laws, or face trouble with the insanity that is the PATRIOT act. Hell, I'm just glad that they told people about it (which, again, they didn't have to do).

In addition, when Google was confronted with either complying with chinese laws or pulling out, they chose the latter. I sort of doubt that Google is able to do the same for the US market.

[Luis Dias]

Fair enough. My sentence still remains 100 % correct though.

[Bobboau]

I'd be interested to know how long does it take for the companies coding those encryption softwares to open the encrypted files

a _VERY_ long time.