Finally Google has (re)launched Drive as a direct competitor to DropBox and the other storage sites.  The 5Gb free storage entry point brings it into line with the likes of SugarSync, but leaves it trailing Microsoft's 25Gb on SkyDrive.

It's easy to see why many users will flock to use it as it is a part of the integrated Google platform but [there's always a but...] look before you leap into this solution.  So long as you are happy with the Terms and Conditions then it is a great solution.

Rafe Needleman yesterday posted "The Google Drive FAQ" on CNET and he sums up the two key Terms of Service points in the section headed "Is Google going to be reading the files I store on Google Drive?".

"Under the heading, Your Content in our Services in Google's terms of service, Google states, "You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours."

That means that Google can't use your content for commercial purposes without your consent. However, the TOS also states that, "you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones."

For content that is yours, Google can't re-use it for its own purposes. But it can use content you upload in order to serve you. This can include integrating services together (like reading your scanned pictures in order to OCR them), and it can include analyzing your files to target advertisements to you. Google already does this in GMail. Google doesn't currently serve ads in Google Docs (now called Google Drive), but it may, according to its license agreement, use data about the content you upload to target ads to you anywhere on the service.

Google may also give up your data in response to a legal demand, like a subpoena. If you want your cloud storage to be a little more out of touch, you might be interested in Wuala, which has no storage servers in the United States. Or you might just want to keep your data off the Internet."

The nub of the issue is how secure and sensitive is your data.  The more secure and sensitive your data, the less likely you will be to store it in Google's Drive.  It's a shame they don't extend the tool by offering a no-scan / data mining version.