A Follow-Up to Google Voice
I recently posted a link to Google Voice on my blog.
Upon reading about it further, it seems as though there are a number of people concerned with the privacy implications of using the service.
I, for one, will continue to use the service (due to its sheer usefulness) until it becomes abundantly clear to me that I am causing some sort of harm to myself by doing so.
However, consider this article from a computerworld.com blog: Google Voice: Press “1″ to invade your privacy.
I read that article, followed by Google’s official privacy statement concerning Google Voice.
However, it is important to realize how a Google Voice number can also protect your privacy as well, believe it or not.
Google itself will have greater access to more of your information, of course (call logs, SMSs, etc.) but for the most part (and hopefully the whole part) this will be limited to machines and computers mining for data rather than humans actually looking at it.
On the other hand, the people who call your Google Voice number will be put through additional layers of security–layers that are more likely to protect you than anything else. Google Voice numbers give you the ability to screen calls prior to picking them up, and even to block unwanted callers completely. This functionality, along with the simple fact that your real phone number is never revealed, balances out the potential risk of losing some privacy to Google.
It’s a give-and-take thing. Once it becomes open to the public, each person will have to decide for themselves whether or not it’s a tradeoff they want to make.
My recommendation: DO IT.
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[EDIT: There is a good overall analysis of the service here.]
