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EPIC = Privacy Advocates, Now With Tinfoil Hats

Ryan Radia has a great post up over on the Technology Liberation Front (which is an all-around excellent site) about EPIC lobbing shots at Google.

Now, I like EPIC as much as the next libertarian-leaning privacy advocate, but this is just over-the-top:
EPIC has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into Google's Cloud Computing Services -- including Gmail, Google Docs, and Picasa -- to determine "the adequacy of the privacy and security safeguards."

Google copped to the mistake, corrected it, and published the details on their official blog. EPIC's first reaction is to call for FTC regulation? *headdesk*

It's the Internet. We want reasonable control over our information, we don't want privacy to the point that we're all locked in caves, people. If the breach was so severe as to cause actual distress, then Google would face the wrath of its customers, which it isn't. Radia puts it best:
There’s no reason for the FTC to intervene every time there’s a security flub when existing liability laws combined with market pressures already give the Googles of the world a strong incentive to guard against breaches.


Security is a tremendous concern for everyone involved in cloud computing, but in the end, the only way to 100% guarantee security is to unplug a machine from the Internet. This is a bit like stopping drunk driving by getting rid of automobiles and making everyone walk.

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