I've become more and more comfortable putting important personal and business information on Google Apps.  It's very convenient to create a document and share it with my wife or other associates of Broadstreet Consulting.  More and more, when I need to create a document that is to be shared, I will create it with Google Docs and then share it. 

But today I got to see the down-side of this approach.  I was checking my email (using Gmail) as usual, and I clicked on the Documents link (as usual), and I got the following message: 

403 Forbidden

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

Well, I'm glad that Google is sorry-- that makes me feel a little better.  But I also have some inkling of what kind of customer service Google has (ie, none whatsoever), and I'm concerned about how I'm going to get this resolved.  

While I'm sure I will get this resolved, it brings up a couple important point that every small business should consider.  Who do you trust to take better care of your data-- you or Google?  And  secondly, who should decide when you can access your data-- you or Google? 

As a pretty big fan of Google Apps, and one who has recommended it to several small business, I