You can always use true crypt for your files if you are concerned.

Ok, in my very real pragmatic life.

1. What's the risk of my stuff being compromised? Very low
2. What's the risk of any of my stuff compromising me as an individual if it were compromised? Low to non-existent
3. If it was compromising, how badly could it effect my life? Potential identity/financial theft, and I'm insured against it.

So, in reality, could I give a shit about Google's, Microsoft's, Apple's etc....... Terms of Service and the way they can be read into? Do I have enough time in my day to worry about the very small, almost non-existent amount of exposure being online can be? No.

But. If I worked for the FBI, the CIA, MI5 or 6, would I use these services for my stuff? Do many of us have stuff that is actually that sensitive, both to ourselves or those around us?

As content creators, then yes, if I've just rendered out a 4k edit of my $189m masterpiece, I'm hardly going to upload it to Google Drive. For the rest of us? It's just fine.

It is probably not obvious to most, but data kept on all cloud services, G-Drive or iCloud, can be accessed legally and monitored by appropriate government agencies for security reasons, and this is equally true in the US as well as within the European Union.

I don't get it, Google's TOS looked explicit enough to me. How can they now say "We didn't mean it"?

Update from google about google drive privacy

Update: Google just sent us the following statement to clarify its terms of service:

As our Terms of Service make clear, "what belongs to you stays yours." You own your files and control their sharing, plain and simple. Our Terms of Service enable us to give you the services you want — so if you decide to share a document with someone, or open it on a different device, you can.

Looking at some of Google's competitors, it's clear that they need the exact same permissions — they just use slightly more artful language to communicate them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/cloud-wars-how-google-drives-privacy-policy-stack-up-against-its-rivals/2012/04/26/gIQAXaQ2iT_story_1.html

@vitaliy_kiselev All companies that operate online (Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google) are about data mining now. They might say that is not the case, but really that is the age where we live in. He with data is king.

Of course when you share something to only one person, it is still private but when you use an online service you have an increased risk of data leaks. Same with Facebook: they change things all the time and if you don't watch out, opt-in becomes opt-out and your data is suddenly public. Not the first time this happened.

What I tried to say is that everything you put online has a certain chance of becoming public. So be careful what you put online. And governments, CIA, hackers are watching... (see the Gmail hack earlier this year or the PSN breach).

And this Google ToS complaints are already adressed: http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/25/2973849/google-drive-terms-privacy-data-skydrive-dropbox-icloud

"In the end, though, the actual wording of these documents doesn't reveal much — they all set out to do the same thing, and they all accomplish their goals. What's most important is how much trust you're willing to give companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Dropbox as more and more of your data moves to the cloud. Contracts are meaningful and important, but even the most noble promises can easily be broken. It's actions and history that have consequences, and companies that deal with user data on the web need to start building a history of squeaky-clean behavior before any of us can feel totally comfortable living in the cloud."

hahaha, my brain is also cloud storage from now on! The interface is a bit funky though ...

iCloud:

“Except for material we may license to you, Apple does not claim ownership of the materials and/or Content you submit or make available on the Service.”

Everything, I repeat EVERYTHING that you SHARE on the INTERNET you should consider as not private anymore.

Sounds just horrible. As it is you who determinate with whom you share it.

@sohus Well, to each his own rant, I'd say.

Gruber is an Apple fan who blogs about it. So? Many Android fans out there who blog about their thing. So? They rant about Apple. So? You rant about Gruber. So?

One could argue if you only give purely balanced views, nothing would be fun. So going over the top, being a fan, we do that because it's fun. And because it's ingrained in who we are. That's why we do certain things. That's why we choose something above something else. It's not purely the balanced view on things that make our decisions. No, most people have a fanaticism. Now you say, Gruber takes it too far. Okay. So? Makes it a bit fun sometimes. Besides, opposing views always give thought. If everything is all right, nothing is wrong, everything would really be fucked up.

He is unfair to Google, Microsoft and may other companies. How is he not a fanboy? Gruber, Pogue and Mg Siegler are the most famous Apple fanboys on the Internet. If you deny that, you are ignorant (there are also plenty for Google). And please show me his posts where he criticizes Apple, they are very hard to find. Gruber is a blogger yet he is one of the few to get a first look at OS X Mountain Lion? Hmmm... what makes him special? Right, he is an Apple fanboy and a promotional puppet like Pogue and Siegler. When Google fucks up he is posting about it for 3 days, when Apple fucks up the FCPX launch he posts 1 article. Balanced right?

I use an iPhone, iPad, iMac and FCPX I use Google Services I use Dropbox I use Adobe software I use Microsoft software

So I am definitely not a fanboy of one brand. But Gruber is a PR toy. There are plenty of other journalists who really like Apple but they don't take every chance to make Google look evil. This specific remark on Google Drive... what is different than Google Desktop, that has been around for years and indexes your whole computer. What alternative is there to Google in search? Do you really believe that Microsoft won't mine your data?

And you guys don't understand what I said: - I don't say it isn't your private data, I said that if you put your data online there is a chance that because of a hack (see PSN) or a government request it won't be 'private'. So if you fear that your data won't be private, don't use online services and do everything the old way. Google isn't different from Apple, Facebook, Microsoft or any other company: they want your data. Saying otherwise is just painfully ignorant.

And being a fanboy is never good. You have to be objective and not blind with love. Gruber, Siegler are definitely blind with love. Go search the Internet, I am not the only one who noticed this. Too bad there are so many sheep in this world. I am no fanboy of no company, and criticize both Apple, Google and Microsoft when needed.

@sohus

Gruber is a pathetic Apple fanboy that complains about EVERYTHING that Google does. For me he is as intelligent as a cow that is shitting.

Sorry, but the smell of this ad hominem fallacy overpowers that of all the cow droppings in the world. There’s no connection between being an Apple fanboy and complaining about certain Google practices. The second sentence is just a direct insult. Hence, I’ll ignore the point you’re making here. (I could equate you to a pathetic anti-Apple attacker, but that would be as pointless and senseless as it would be rude, so I won’t.)

Everything, I repeat EVERYTHING that you SHARE on the INTERNET you should consider as not private anymore. No matter what service, how you do it, your data is somewhere online and your ISP, the service you are using, the secret service, china, governments, hackers can probably obtain it if they want.

I think this is an absurd argument. It just doesn’t hold water, no matter how many capital letters you use.

Privacy must be guaranteed and protected. If there’s a potential for a breach in privacy protection, people must be aware of it. Extending your line of reasoning just a bit further makes it sound like nobody has any rights whatsoever, because, see, anything you possess (including property and, what’s more important, your life and freedom) could be snatched away from your by “the secret service, governments, thieves, murderers, etc.”

Do I have to take heed of your advice and consider my life worthless and unprotected? Does voicing my concerns about these issues automatically put me in the “pathetic democracy/basic human rights fanboy” camp?

@Mr_Moore Gruber is a pathetic Apple fanboy that complains about EVERYTHING that Google does. For me he is as intelligent as a cow that is shitting. I am not surprised if he is an external Apple PR employee.

Now I have said that:

Everything, I repeat EVERYTHING that you SHARE on the INTERNET you should consider as not private anymore. No matter what service, how you do it, your data is somewhere online and your ISP, the service you are using, the secret service, china, governments, hackers (no offense @Vitaliy_Kiselev) can probably obtain it if they want.

So if something is really private or sensible... don't put it ONLINE. That's the rule.