“Moving the data itself offsite is a BIG change, and one that comes at a BIG price. This effectively places state governments’ data outside the direct control of our government. If Google (or an ISP) were to decide for whatever reason – economic, political – to cut us off from our data, governments using their services would be, well, Scroogled. To me, this is an unacceptable level of control for a single private company to have over federal, state or local government. When you reach a point where the government cannot operate without a private company, then the private company has effectively gained control of the government. With Google physically housing and managing state government operational data, they literally gain control of our government’s operations. What’s more, Google also has access to data mine the information. Would this be legal? Hopefully not, depending on the contract that our governments have signed. Would it be technologically possible? Of course.” - × × ×