Some interesting reporting by Bob Sullivan over at MSNBC on some of the privacy issues surrounding cloud computing.  The article directly touches on why I started SymbioSystems, and my vision for Virtual IT:

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/04/the-constitutional-issues-raised-by-cloud-computing.html#posts

Application based cloud-computing already plays a major role in most peoples lives, though they might not realize it.  As with most good things that make our lives more convenient, there is a cost.  The cost of incredibly powerful free search is that the search company knows what you are looking for (and by extension, anything online about you is probably in their index.)  The cost of multi-gigabyte free email is that the email host knows what's in your email.

Most ethical companies adhere to a privacy policy that describes what they will and won't use this data for.  In most cases, it's limited to things like scouring your data for keywords to trigger targeted advertisements and aggregating the data and reselling it (after it's been anonimized, of course). Nearly universally, companies will share your information with the government or a third party if there is a court order requiring them to do so.

Personally, I'm comfortable with certain bits of information being available online.  Using social networking services and sites like this one as a way to promote my expertise and business seems like a valuable trade off.  Would I ever conduct actual business using a third-party email account or hosted office application?  Absolutely not.

This gets at the root of my vision for Virtual IT.  With SymbioSystems, you're getting the benefits of working in the cloud without the privacy trade-off.  Just like your traditional IT provider, we have a contractual obligation to treat your data as absolutely confidential.  Our technical and legal frameworks are built with this express purpose in mind.  (Check back soon for a white paper that describes exactly what I mean).

Do you use cloud based applications for data you consider to be private?  Does it bother you that the social networking companies provide that service by collecting data about who you know and what you're interested in?