Content Ownership and Privacy Concerns

I am in the process of creating a digital archive of the written work I created while in the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program. I have decided to use Google Docs to store my collection of work, which primarily includes files in Word (.doc or .docx) and PDF. Based on my experience with Google Docs thus far, the application seems easy to use and well-suited to a Web 2.0 portfolio environment. Best of all, the price is right: free for my current low-volume needs. I also feel encouraged by the Data Liberation Front, which appears to offer an escape hatch from Google if I decide to move my digital archive elsewhere.


However, in spite of all the advantages, I still have some reservations about using Google apps, because the Google Terms of Service include the following statements about "Content license from you" (Section 11):

" . . . you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services" (11.1). 

" . . . this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services" (11.2). 

I feel apprehensive about the idea of adding audio, video, or photos to a digital archive that may or may not be as private as I would like it to be. An obvious choice for storing photos would be Picasa Web Albums (with an iPhoto plugin). According to the Picasa Web Albums Privacy Notice (2010), "If you designate an album 'private,' and you grant a particular user access to that album, then anyone who visits that album must enter a username and password before it can be viewed" ("Your Choices"). Yet, if Google has license to "reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit," can I be sure my content will be kept private?


Likewise, I am putting my trust in YouTube. In "Private videos and how to share them" (YouTube Help), it states that private videos can only be viewed by those invited to see them ("only you and up to 50 other users who you invite to view the video will be able to see it"); the video won't appear in search results or playlists.


I feel as though my decision to use free Web 2.0 tools like Google Docs, Picasa Web Albums and YouTube is an act of faith. Then again, it makes good business sense for Google to keep its promises.  If all those who are storing their documents and photos in the cloud were to discover that their content was not private or secure, how long would they continue to do so? My guess is: not long. So, I am trusting Google to honor their own security philosophy, which reassures people like me with this claim: "We understand that secure products are instrumental in maintaining the trust you place in us and strive to create innovative products that both serve your needs and operate in your best interest."