The EFF is recommending that consumers avoid the new desktop because it enables the search engine to store information on user data and search habits for up to 30 days.
The EFF has said that unless the software is properly configured, it could conceivably maintain copies of data as sensitive as tax returns, financial and medical information and even more personal information such as online search habits.
EFF staff attorney Kevin Bankston said the government could then demand those personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from a home or business, and in many cases a user wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it.
The EFF is most concerned about the feature that allows users to search their own content on multiple computers. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers.
The EFF urges consumers not to use this feature.
Online privacy concerns are particularly paramount following the Justice Department’s request for Internet giants such as AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo to hand over search engine records that detail what users are searching for online.
Google was the only company to deny the government access to its search data, which specifically asked for a million “random web addresses,” as well as the freedom to acquire records of all Google searches conducted during any one-week time frame.
Bankston said he found it “shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," on the heels of the federal government’s interest in user search habits.
"This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital age," Cindy Cohn, EFF's legal director, said. "Many Internet innovations involve storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs, and still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired world."
In response to increasing sensitivity over privacy issues, which the search giant also faced when it rolled out the popular Gmail email service, Google has vowed to protect consumer privacy by encrypting all data transferred from users' hard drives in order to avoid the misuse of such personal information.
Google Desktop 3 is only available for Windows XP or Windows 2000.
