This post is for CM.
Google has email and documents. With them, your emails, documents, and spreadsheets are safely stored on their servers. Better than having them on just one computer, have the hard drive die, and *POOF* Right?
Perhaps not. If your cloud-stored email is over 6 months old, did you know that the government can read it without a warrant? This email is held to a lower standard by a 1986 law, that only "requires the authorities to make a probable-cause showing to a judge." In a recent court case, the government was planning to assert it had that same right for recent emails, as well, but they decided they did not need them for their investigation.
It's not just the issue of warrants, either, but of notification. If the government wants to read your personal papers, they get a warrant, and you get to see it (and know they've taken them) because they bust down your door. But if they want to read your email, they serve the warrant to your host (e.g. Google) and you'll never know they were there. The FBI found this a very useful tactic when pursuing a couple spammers, getting access to their documents on Google Docs.
So cloud computing simplifies data backup and access to files, but it makes surveillance and government access to your data somewhat easier, as well.
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