A good article but not much new information. From a law enforcement perspective, the cloud is the goldmine also regarding WhatsApp and the like. As for Google:

"Two of the most telling slides from Tuma’s Wednesday presentation related to what information PenLink recommends that police demand from Google — including Google Search histories, cellphone location histories, Google Maps search histories, and all Google Docs created by the target."

So Google probably gives a bulk copy of everything it has. Any marketing about anonymization is nonsense. As apparently are the frequent claims about "serious crimes":

"Perhaps the most jarring aspect of Tuma’s talk was the contrast between his frequent allusion to murder investigations versus the closing slide centering on wiretapping a small-time marijuana provider."

What I don't really understand is that US law enforcement apparently needs to rely on these vague third-party companies. It casts a shadow over their competency.

Another point is that things get more interesting in cross-border cases involving non-US companies. Good luck getting data from VKontake stored in a data center in Moscow.

This serves as a great reminder to create a Google Doc and meticulously describe every illegal activity your tech company asks you to do; names, dates, organizational plans, meeting notes. This way, in the event of a wiretap, there is a body of evidence awaiting that agency; a honeypot, if you will.

The message is simple: Violate our privacy, and we will violate yours.