Why it matters: It's easy to see why people get all prickly about this one. Once the tool is installed and files are indexed, a snoop needs only a coffee break, rather than a lunch hour, to search someone's hard drive for files about, say, Bob Jones's salary. To make matters worse, freewheeling users may not pay attention or understand how to make sure that sensitive documents aren't indexed.

To its credit, Google has tried to improve the standard configuration of the tool. An early version automatically returned results with password-protected files and secure HTTP pages; now, those types of files aren't indexed unless the user changes a setting. "People screamed about that, and Google changed it very quickly," SearchEngineWatch.com's Sherman says. Even so, setting up appropriate exclusions can get complicated. Some companies - as well as many individuals who are concerned about their personal privacy - are also leery of making so much information available to Google.

The new Search Across Computers feature only heightens these concerns. With this feature, Google says, copies of users' personal files can sit on Google's servers for up to 30 days. Google downplays this time frame. Says Matthew Glotzbach, product manager for Google Enterprise, "If both of your computers are on and syncing, [the files are on Google's servers] only a matter of minutes" - the time it takes for Google to pull up the information and push it back down onto the second computer.

But having the information saved on Google's servers at all is troubling, given that search engine companies are routinely subpoenaed by prosecutors. (Google's privacy policy states: "We may also share information with third parties in limited circumstances, including when complying with legal process, preventing fraud or imminent harm, and ensuring the security of our network and services.") In one especially charged case, Google fought a subpoena from the US Department of Justice, which wanted search results to help analyze its enforcement of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. A judge reduced the amount of information Google must turn over, and the ensuing debate raised awareness about the amount (and nature) of information that Google has in its stores.

The fact that the software is relatively untested raises additional questions. Last November, an Israeli researcher reported that he had found a vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer that allowed him to illicitly access information in Google Desktop. Google fixed the problem, but legitimate concerns linger. "Anytime you install software from a third party directly on a hard drive of a particular machine, you're potentially opening up holes in the security of that machine," says Matt Brown, a Forrester senior analyst.

What to do: It's time to catch up - something that Brown says is especially important given the fact that Sarbanes-Oxley requires companies to keep tabs on where and how long their information is retained. Consider whether your users actually need desktop search for their jobs. If they do, you'll want to have a hand in how it's configured and used. (Bonus points go to the CSO who makes sure that users understand the privacy implications of all these tools, beyond just telling them to read the privacy policy.)

At the FDA, Stine is in the early stages of looking at the tool. "There have been some requests [for desktop search] here and there, but there hasn't been a user outcry," he says. If (or when) there comes a point when a lot of users have a legitimate need for desktop search, Stine says he'll look carefully at how the technology identifies, indexes and presents information. "We'd have to ensure that we still maintain complete control - at least as complete as possible - over the information," he says.

Fortunately, he'd have plenty of options. Several companies have enterprise desktop search tools that help CISOs keep tabs on the information. Google Desktop 3 for Enterprise, currently in beta, allows administrators to completely disable features such as the Search Across Computers feature. Google says it is working to make future versions of this tool easier to manage. "I don't think we anticipated such a concerned or negative response," Glotzbach says. "We've taken to heart the feedback on the Search Across Computers feature, especially in the enterprise context, and we're actively working on making it even easier for the companies to use" in a secure manner, he says.

X1 Technologies, which has partnered with Yahoo, offers a competing enterprise search tool that Brown says is more manageable from an IT perspective. "Part of the problem with these technologies is they get announced and people immediately start downloading," Brown says. "It takes companies a little while to catch on to what's happening."

Shock waves: 4 (highest). Desktop search is an untested technology with a wide potential for misuse. If your users don't need it, don't let them use it; if they do need it, consider enterprise tools that can be centrally managed and controlled.

Future Shocks

Google has shaken us, by holding up a mirror and forcing us to look at what we've put online. "Google provides a lot of capability that can do you harm as well as providing you search capabilities," Winkler says. "What makes it its strength makes it its danger."

The future will make search technology only more dangerous. Bell Canada's Garigue points out that search technology is still in its very infancy, barely scratching the surface of what he calls the shallow Web. "The shallow Web is everything that's public on Web servers," he says. "The deep Web is what's hidden inside databases." From the Library of Congress to Lexis-Nexis's legal and news archives, to Medline's medical databases, the great bulk of information that people access online is still available only to subscribers, not to Google. "Google is the first generation of tools," Garigue says. As those tools get more sophisticated, the shock waves will only grow stronger.

BIG and Getting BIGGER

Between December 2004 and December 2005 Google grabbed an extra 65 market share for search, while its two biggest competitors lost ground.

Google: 48.8 (up 5.7%) Yahoo: 21.4 (down .3%) MSN Search: 10.9 (down 3.1%)

SOURCE: NIELSEN/NETRATINGS