A few days back, most of the Google applications were down for several hours in several parts of the globe. Google had officially issued clarification about it.

But such incidences, although rare in frequency, raise an important issue of Backup.

Google is the undisputed DON of the web today. Leave aside Google search engine, but Gmail also is one of the most used email clients the world over. Have you ever imagined a situation when Gmail crashes and you are unable to reach your mail account.

Sounds scary. Although there are remote chances of it, but still who knows. When so much is dependent upon Gmail and Google Accounts, can you afford to take a risk.

And remember, Gmail crashes are not something like a distant dream. Specially when it is a  known fact that Gmail is still in its BETA version after passing of so many years.

See what O’Reilly says here. http://www.oreillynet.com/xml/blog/2006/12/gmail_disaster_google_confirme.html

And ArsTechnica also reports here. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061230-8524.html

And that’s why services like Gmail Backup have been developed.

Gmail Backup is a freeware application, which allows you to download all your email in your Gmail Account right their in your PC for offline use. All these emails, with their attachments etc. are downloaded in Microsoft Outlook compliant .eml format, and thus can easily be used by any desktop email client for offline use.

Sounds great. Yes, it does the job perfectly.

But I have some serious reservations in the use of services like Gmail Backup.

Gmail Backup requires you to give your Google Account username and password to the applications. It is expected also, otherwise, how can such a program fetch your emails. But, in an era, when your Google Account is almost a key to your online personality, when it stores so much of the information about you, your search habits, your preferences and many times it is your last backup password, can you afford to share it with a third party?

It is a serious issue to be pondered with, before using a service like Gmail Backup.

And when you can have a similar functionality of backing up all your Gmail emails with Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook, would you still care for trusting a third party like Gmail Backup.

Agreed that you do not get the facility to restore your emails to a new Gmail account with Thunderbird or Outlook, but still, sharing of your Google Account with somebody else is too much of asking for a small facility.

No, I am not a taker of this service. Are you?