[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Google’s changes to its privacy policy raises serious privacy concerns for Google Apps For Government (GAFG), according to industry watchdog SafeGov.org. These issues should not be overlooked by public sector officials who use the cloud or are looking to move to the cloud, say SafeGov.org founding experts Jeff Gould and Karen Evans.

“This is a significant change for the GAFG service that Google sells to federal, state and local governments and warrants further review by the public sector. We hope Google will quickly clarify that it does not intend its new privacy policy to apply to GAFG users especially in light of their responsibilities under the Privacy Act and the E-Government Act,” they say.

Google should also clarify where its consumer product line ends and its enterprise products begin, asserts SafeGov.org. It recommends Google address this concern by issuing Terms of Service for all Google online products and guaranteeing public sector users their data will not be cross-referenced, data mined or otherwise used for purposes not originally collected in support of their public sector missions.

SafeGov.org is a forum for IT providers and industry experts dedicated to promoting trusted and responsible cloud computing solutions for the public sector. Its partner companies include Harris Corporation, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, and Lockheed Martin, among others.