Google Knows All

he Buzz: If search engines could talk, what would they say? Now that it's acquiring giant advertising network DoubleClick, Google could potentially say a lot more about you. For the most part, the company is making the right kinds of noises about building walls between its different collections of data, but... Remember when everyone was worried about Eschelon, the secret intelligence project that would monitor phone calls, e-mail, and other data? Well, let's run down all the Google services most people use: You have Gmail, Docs & Spreadsheets, Calendar, text and voice chat through the still-in-beta Google Talk, shopping at Google Product Search--and of course everything begins with Web search. Throw all of that together, and Google could probably do a good Eschelon impression. And while the company's motto is "Don't be evil," giant data repositories always attract attention--from hackers, governments, and corporations.

source: pcworld.com