Google Desktop Search

I've been asked several times this week about local desktop search software such as Google Desktop. Interesting that the questioners were all major worldwide corporations who themselves were evaluating tools for long term archival and more importantly legal discovery.

So what's the answer; well in this writers opinion; it boils down to one word "risk".

Comments

[Peter Mojica]

Google Desktop Search makes every local machine in a corporation easily accessible. Think about that from a legal discovery perspective, you have 100,000 local PC's in your corporation 70,000 in major locations, the other 30,000 in small regional offices spread throughout the country. In your next discovery "sit-down", aka/meet and confer. Your asked the following, (P=Plaintiff, D=Defense)

P: We believe that there is information pertinent to the matter contained within your local PC environment.

D: Let me stop you right there, our local machines data is not readily accessible, you would have to bare the cost of any discovery and first you need to prove that their is a reason to even go there...

P: I notice you have Google Desktop on your laptop?

D: Yeah, so what.

P: Well let's go back to that "not readily accessible" comment, your local machine is pretty accessible, your whole drive can be searched in an instant...

D: Uh...

P: Let me help you out, your point #2 that I have to prove that there is even a reason to , how did you put it, "go there" is moot. Since your local PC infrastructure is pretty darned accessible thanks to Google Desktop.

D: Uh, uh...

P: We'll be requesting discovery from your 100,000 local PC's.

D: Uh, uh....

Get the point. If your a major corporation dealing with eDiscovery, prevent users from downloading of all of these free "productivity" tools at the router and go back and search for them on each machine on each users next login, and let them know that it's going away. Find a better way that doesn't expose you to the above.

IT has to be more aware of the potential risks associated with each technology deployed widespread.