Ask Dave Taylor: Tech and Business

Tuesday

Gmail adds "Chats" feature: Another privacy problem lurking?

Google never stops experimenting and adding new features to its software systems, so it's no surprise when major applications change without any notification or comment from Google. The latest? Google's Gmail application now includes a convenient mechanism for you to browse and search through your Google Talk chat transcripts.

But are you comfortable with Google having an archive of not just your email and searches, but of your instant message transcripts too? I think there's yet another privacy problem that'll arise once people find that contextually-sensitive ads are displayed while reviewing chat transcripts:

  Google Gmail Chats Feature?

I'm less paranoid than some of my colleagues, but still...