Los Angeles, the nations second largest city, has been considering tossing it's current computer network, and using Google Apps instead. As you read here last week, Twitter, the popular communications company, was hacked recently, and the Google Apps program was involved.

City officials have been negotiating a deal with a leading computer company to replace the city's antiquated computer system with Google's internet based services. The deal is worth over $7 million dollars, and would shift the e-mail and office programs from city owned computers to Google run facilities.

This is not the first city to consider using the Google Apps programs for government business. Washington D.C. is already using Google Apps and it appears to be working well. Google promotes it's services as "extremely reliable, safe and secure,"and acknowledges that almost 2 million businesses currently use the technology.

Many city officials and private citizens have expressed concerns that the shift toward doing more over the Web could make it easier for hackers to gain access to sensitive government files.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the nonprofit research group World Privacy recently wrote that Los Angeles "rushed into this without enough careful consideration of all of the consequences, and without enough attention to the details of protecting the privacy of the data."

"The transfer of so many city records ... may threaten the privacy rights of city residents, undermine the security of other sensitive information, violate both state and federal laws, and potentially damage vital city legal and other interests,". What do you think, should cities use web based apps for government business? Leave a comment.

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