As this video, circulated by Microsoft, decries, questions about what is happening to your data that is being emailed or stored "in the cloud" are becoming more and more prevalent. While it's been a source of contention for nearly a decade about how Google retains the right to scan your email and disclose information, at Google's discretion, to its high-paying advertising clients, concerns are now arising about all other "cloud" hosted data services.

"If you use Gmail, Google Docs, or any other popular G-service, you’re about to surrender a lot more personal information to the Googleplex..." - Nick Mediati, PCWorld

From The Inside: Sunshine laws
For government entities, there is the rationality that email communications fall under open records, or "Sunshine," laws, so there isn't a concern about them being scanned. However, with the increasing popularity of GMail as the email service for government agencies, how often are emails sent between internal employees that contain information, like social security numbers or personal health information (in social services agencies), that is not subject to Sunshine Laws? This information would be redacted if requested as part of a public records request. Unfortunately, this information is freely accessible to Google and its advertisers.

Furthermore, information in governmental communications is only provided to requesting parties in the event of a public records request - it is not freely scanned by the public.

Information contained in files stored in Google Docs, Google Drive and any of the other Google Apps, even if only for internal use within your organization, may be subject to unknown, prying eyes. This presents not only concerns relating to HIPAA and other regulatory compliance, but concerns about maintaining the integrity of client relationships and trust in general.

From The Outside: Personal Privacy
As a matter of personal privacy, the public is becoming more and more concerned about sending emails into, or sharing any private information with organizations that use any sort of Google Apps.This is partially due to the rash of press and lawsuits that have cropped up over the last few years.

Think about it: You have developed a business concept worth potentially millions of dollars, or at least thousands of dollars of company time. You send confidential information on the concept to your client, or even worse, your attorney, who happens to be using GMail or Google Apps. Now, your ground-breaking idea is fodder for Google and the advertising clients they sell or lease your information to.

What To Do?
Outsourcing your email, document management, and other business data services is still a good idea. Hosted application providers like Vistalogix can provide economy of scale that even large organizations often cannot achieve by hosting their data internally. However, it is important to understand how secure your data is when it's on their infrastructure.

Here are a few key things you should look for when considering a provider for your email or data hosting:

• Users and admins should manage their own passwords.
  Vistalogix never has access to your account passwords. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is often highly indicative of how serious a provider is about maintaining the integrity of your security and privacy. All of your user account information is securely encrypted in storage - passwords can only be reset, never decoded or viewed by our engineers.
• Your files and databases should be isolated from other hosted clients.
  Many times, providers co-mingle SQL databases and files of multiple clients. Vistalogix uses only client-dedicated SQL databases and allocated file storage with its own isolated directory structure, so information is never co-mingled with that of other clients. Optionally, Vistalogix offers completely dedicated infrastructure for clients with exceptionally sensitive data needs.
• Beware of "FREE" services, especially those provided by marketing companies.
  We all know there's no such thing as "free." This is especially true when the provider's primary line of business stands to benefit in some other way from what they're offering - such as marketing companies like Google, Yahoo, et al. Vistalogix is not in the business of marketing. We live and die by our reputation as a reliable provider of hosted data, email and web application services.

More Articles On The Topic:

Wired: The Perpetual, Invisible Window Into Your Gmail Inbox

PCWorld: Google Privacy Checklist

Gmail 'Snooping' Amounts to Eavesdropping, Boston Case Claims

Google Facing Lawsuit Over Gmail Snooping