It's a bit of a misleading headline, as Google is hardly the only "permanent" record out there. Working in government IT though, the idea of document retention

It's a bit of a misleading headline, as Google is hardly the only "permanent" record out there. Working in government IT though, the idea of document retention periods is quite important. With the cost of storing bits greater than zero, many of them make way as time passes. The Web itself is quite young. Do we expect all Facebook photos to be retained for thirty years? Do we expect Facebook to exist in thirty years? I am also surprised no one has proposed a GUID system thus far.