Currently Stored on your Desktop
If you check out the Google Desktop Search Privacy FAQ you will first read point number one and I put a little emphasis in there. Lawyers don’t put that there without a reason.
_1\. Does Google Desktop Search share the contents of my computer with anyone?
No. Your Google Desktop index and copies are __currently_ _stored only on your computer. The content is not shared with Google or anyone else without your explicit permission._
With the fact that the Google Desktop Search gives you a full revisioning system within your desktop, with all the old files saved, this is where stuff gets really interesting. I presume a big team of people inside Google is working on high scalable encryption mechanisms, privacy safeguards, weird stuff that will make somebody feel like their data on Google’s servers is private and secure. If they can get that settled then they will slowly take away the desktop from under your finger tips. Then I just need a unique ID, like a finger print to access my stuff on Google from whatever I use at the time.