Traditional Relationship Of Self to Society under Threat?

So we know that the search giants hold a wealth of information in their data servers. And many have consistently warned us of the threat that this may pose to each of us. We are, at once, both eagerly jumping into one new technology after another (email, Voice Over IP, online calendars, contact lists, etc), and also recognizing that as we do this, we slowly tear down the walls of privacy that we have always enjoyed.

One author, John Battelle, has sounded off on this theme before, but in his latest discussion of this security issue, he's particularly articulate.

What are the implications of "having the world's data stored in top secret high security locations owned by private companies with little if any transparency about how that data might be used. What about the social impact? Privacy, reconstruction of relationship of self to society, policy, data rights, etc.?"?

Should we be concerned that the government will ultimately put Google and Microsoft's data centers into a clamp so tight, it'll make logins and passwords pop out like your jean pant buttons after a trip to Dairy Queen?

Also, did you notice that AOL is getting sued for lots of money over to that hideous data leak we reported here a few weeks ago...? Good! Maybe no one's life will be ruined again, any time soon, because a search engine slips their personal information to the world.