"At the moment, Internet users enjoy more privacy rights if they store data on their hard drives or under their mattresses, a legal hiccup that the companies fear could slow the shift to cloud-based services unless the law is changed to be more privacy-protective."
It's not really a legal hiccup. Let's rewrite it without the editorializing:
"At the moment, Internet users enjoy more privacy rights if they keep their data private than if they share their data with non-governmental third parties..."
If you tell me you're planning to kill someone, the FBI doesn't need a search warrant to get me to testify about what you said. A subpoena will do. Why should it be different if you tell Google you're planning on killing someone, by storing "Killing Someone Plans.doc" on their servers in plain text?
> Why should it be different if you tell Google you're planning on killing someone, by storing "Killing Someone Plans.doc" on their servers in plain text?
Because there's an expectation of privacy when you store information with password protection.
Metaphors are not helpful for understanding this sort of issue. It's a bit like and a bit not like all kinds of things, and isn't exactly enough like anything else.
I agree you don't need metaphors, but not because it's not like anything, rather because it's too simple to need a metaphor: If you give something, anything, to a third party to handle or keep, the government can't demand to go and look at it without a warrant.
The government can't demand to go look in your safety deposit box, it can't get your library check out records, it can't see how many airline miles you have, it can't read the mail in your PO box etc etc without a warrant. Of course, in some of those cases, the third party will cooperate without a warrant, but they're not required to.
It's not really a legal hiccup. Let's rewrite it without the editorializing:
"At the moment, Internet users enjoy more privacy rights if they keep their data private than if they share their data with non-governmental third parties..."
If you tell me you're planning to kill someone, the FBI doesn't need a search warrant to get me to testify about what you said. A subpoena will do. Why should it be different if you tell Google you're planning on killing someone, by storing "Killing Someone Plans.doc" on their servers in plain text?