Critiques
Analyst firm The Real Story Group cited several weaknesses in Google Apps in a comparative review which referenced a lack of administrative, customization, and lifecycle services that might hamper effectiveness in large enterprise environments.
Data security issues mean that online application platforms can be unsuitable where sensitive or confidential data is to be stored. This is particularly true for governments (where national interests might preclude storing information abroad) and large commercial entities (where any data leak can have severe financial consequences), and individuals (where ID theft can have devastating financial consequences or destroy a reputation).
- On March 10, 2009, Google reported that a bug in Google Docs had allowed unintended access to some private documents. It was believed that 0.05% of documents stored via the service were affected by the bug, which Google claimed has been fixed.
- In the UK, it is not possible to obtain information relating to Google and RIPA requests but we know that MI5 and MI6 make frequent use of their information because of quotes like, "but I can say that the intelligence agencies, police forces and other law enforcement agencies are the principal users of communications data" in the annual RIPA reports.
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