Think Twice About Free Services From Google
So I belong to this listserv of mostly attorneys and everyone is talking about how they use Google for this and Google for that and all I can think is … is it just me?! Why would anyone wish Google to be scanning and indexing their business records and documents – let alone a bunch of attorneys?
*start of rant*
Of course, you KNOW – any time your data touches a Google server it is being scanned and indexed. Right?
Seriously – you are giving every keystroke/word <-as best as speech recognition can figure out the words I imagine – to Google just by using it. Oh and Google = not just search but, of course, gmail, chrome, anything done on a chromebook. All are collection points. Google was built to scan/index and it’s doing that to your and your clients’ info.
As for those using Google Voice – are you sure you’re getting all your calls? Who are you going to call if you realize, 3 days later, that your phone has stopped ringing?? See – it’s not when tech works that you have to worry – it’s when it doesn’t. Pay the $20 per month to have a business VoIP line or use unified messaging to work your cell as a business AND personal mobile device and stop using a free service, especially Google, for everything!
*Jumps off soapbox*
Note: the above is much more amusing when you read it like Edna Mode , dahling! #justsayin
Andrea Cannavina (@AndreaCan) helps law firms organize, automate and implement business process improvements to create efficient workflows and happier staff.
This does seem very rant-y, which is kind of funny when the email arrives with the “powered by google” tag at the bottom.
Anyway, much of what you say isn’t incorrect, but it’s also fair to say that what’s more important is checking out what you’re agreeing to when you use ANY free service (google or not). What are you giving away? What are you (perhaps inadvertently) sharing that you shouldn’t? It’s also fair to say that using the paid version of G-Suite is entirely different (or paid other software). Perhaps a point that would have been a bit more useful here.