But it's important to know what Google considers "personal information" and how it handles said information.
How does Google handle "User communications", like your gmail account and its included chat features? Well, according to the company's Privacy Policy, "When you send email or other communications to Google, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services.
Wha? First of all, few of us consider that our email or IM exchanges are "sent to Google" rather than through Google. Unlike the phone company, or even a cellular service provider, that keep records that a call took place, between which numbers, when it occurred and how long it lasted, Google's retention of your exchange includes the actual content of the conversation. Google does not disclose how long it retains this content, presumably it does so in perpetuity.
We may soon see the day when our gmail conversation of today is subpoenaed, to prove anything from ongoing infidelity in a divorce proceeding to undeclared craigslist earnings in a tax or fraud investigation. I realize that once sent, emails exist in cyberspace indefinitely. Still, it is creepy to know that they also exist in Google's archives, where one day scholars may pour over them like they once examined the correspondence exchanges of great thinkers, wtiters, celebrities and politicizations.
Be careful what you say and where you say it.
If it's any consolation, Google makes its users this promises:
"If Google becomes involved in a merger, acquisition, or any form of sale of some or all of its assets, we will ensure the confidentiality of any personal information involved in such transactions and provide notice before personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy."
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