"A study released today by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that 69% of people online in the United States have used some form of "cloud computing" -- Web mail, online photo/video storage, or Web-based applications that store their data in the growing "cloud" of servers instead of on their personal computers.

But while people like the convenience and the ability to easily access content stored online and share it with others, they are concerned about how that personal information could be misused, the study found. (Download a PDF here.) And that makes it a challenge for Washington policymakers.

"People are very obviously making trade-offs in privacy," John Horrigan, the project's associate director, said in unveiling the study at Google's Washington, D.C., offices today. "There are high-levels of use of the cloud and high-levels of concern about ... possible secondary uses of the data."


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