It appears my Google account is slated for deletion • Hacker News Board

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#181

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:16 AM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #47

Tortoise wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fastmail.fm Not free; but you definitely get what you pay for.

Happy to second FastMail. Been there almost a year, and it's amazing how good their product is. Note that they just revised their TOS to get rid of the dreaded "can terminate your account at any time for any reason" common to most services, in exchange for a clear set of conditions. Aka, the CEO waking up one day and deciding to get rid of you isn't valid anymore, as it would be for most companies.

[deleted]

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#182

Post by tqkxzugoaupvwqr » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:16 AM UTC

mnw21cam wrote: post #171

londons_explore wrote: post #163

If your Google account is suspended, then deletion of the contents after a set number of days is required by various laws and legal precidents for your own privacy. Google cannot hold your private data on an ongoing basis without letting you access it. Your only chance will be getting the account unsuspended before the timer runs out.

> Google cannot hold your private data on an ongoing basis without letting you access it. Has anyone mentioned this to Facebook? I think they hold quite a lot of information about me, and because I don't have an account, I presumably can't access it.

I think in the EU and USA you can request all information a company has about you. Not sure how this would work without an identifier, though. You could send all your personal information to them so they can check if they store something about but this feels icky.

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#183

Post by chippy » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:29 AM UTC

donalhunt wrote: post #56

The following articles may be of help: 1) https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/40695 2) https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2802168?hl=en Despite claims in this thread that Google likes to do things without due process and clear guidelines, the reality is that something like an account deletion is both pretty rare and not done lightly (you'll see that in some of the language in support articles and T&Cs r…

>I worked at Google for over a decade.

Thanks for your comment.

I would like to hear from people who work from Google right now. The policies and priorities have changed. Their approaches have changed. It has changed since many people have worked there. I very much doubt anyone from youtube will speak up here, even with a throwaway.

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#184

Post by hycaria » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:36 AM UTC

cm2187 wrote: post #140

projectant wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happens. It's not good that it happens but we must expect it to happen. What power to we have? Change our perspective. These online services which area now beginning to dip their toes into censorship / advertiser-hedged editorializing, are not to be seen as reliable ubiquitous platforms existing for the convenience of all. As much as they perhaps want to be seen as such, their actions belie this. They are closed…

I am a big fan of run your own services. But when I do the maths, the cost is uneconomical for the average user. And the complexity already too high even for my own taste. Like configuring a mail server is hard.

That's not the question. The question is : is your content sensitive/important/unique/are-you-paranoid-enough that it's worth the price/time/learn ? There are alternatives afaik, that one cba to use them is not the problem. Companies do money out of our own laziness, they're not entitled to anything. I have a hard time understanding what all this fuss is about.

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#185

Post by wvh » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:37 AM UTC

Right now most information dissemination seems to happen through commercial or state actors. Neither appears to be very reliable regarding neutrality and impartiality. There are also political and religious platforms that don't inspire much confidence either in that regard. Maybe academic platforms still have some independence, but those are mostly aimed towards scientific studies most so than contemporary news items.

Where would one host "news" or data that most platforms aren't eager to support for one reason or another? Where do you publish an article critical of the state in countries where the media is state-owned, or critical of corporations that sponsor the media outlets?

This bias problem might be one of the most tricky things for mankind to solve, even though it would seem it should turn out to be equally important for anybody regardless of one's position at either end of whatever spectrum.

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#186

Post by adrianratnapala » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:40 AM UTC

blfr wrote: post #71

KGIII wrote: post #7

Well, she is easier to defend than Nazis. So, here I go... Freedom of expression, not just free speech the legal concept, should be a societal goal. Google has every right, legally, to delete this stuff. However, in an ideal world, they'd do no such thing and would let people judge based on the merits of the message. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to work towards that ideal world. Maybe the solution…

Above being more than a legal concept, it's also not really about expression, ie. the biggest value to society is not from Alexa O'Brien being able to express her thoughts and feelings, which is a minor benefit to her, but in us being able to read them and then choose the best ideas to adapt/copy/implement. The fact that you can make your (realistically, very tiny) contribution to the culture is much less important t…

which is a minor benefit to her, but in us being able to read them and then choose the best ideas to adapt/copy/implement

One nitpick: it's no minor matter to Ms. O'Brien that she be able to complete her big project, and the keep the tools for doing others in future.

My more important point is that is the common case: our own freedom is important morally, but materially we benefit most from other people's freedom. Web pioneer firms are actually good examples here: they were free to build technologies that are handy for you and me even though that exposed knowledge some people would have wanted stifled.

The value of "free hearing" as a consequence of "free speech" is just one case of this and I am happy enough if the newly coined term makes the situation clearer.

[Disclaimer: I work for Google, but am obviously speaking here only for myself and not the company. Nor do I know anything about what the company plans to do about this case.]

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#187

Post by asfdsfggtfd » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:45 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #99

blfr wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Above being more than a legal concept, it's also not really about expression, ie. the biggest value to society is not from Alexa O'Brien being able to express her thoughts and feelings, which is a minor benefit to her, but in us being able to read them and then choose the best ideas to adapt/copy/implement. The fact that you can make your (realistically, very tiny) contribution to the culture is much less important t…

The cynical side of me thinks that a society with no control over (certain) information is one which is more vulnerable to control by bad actors. We have more of a filtering problem than an access problem at the moment - there's too much information to support all beliefs so people are more likely to become entrenched in whatever they do believe.

And side of me that studied history thinks that a society with control over (certain) information is one which is more vulnerable to control by bad actors...

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#188

Post by chippy » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:50 AM UTC

anotherbrownguy wrote: post #119

jdietrich wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder who is really pulling the strings here With 99.9% confidence, I'm saying an algorithm. It isn't unusual for a company to automatically delete accounts that seriously breach their ToCs; the unique problem with Google is that their ecosystem is so large and pervasive.

The "algorithm" seems very much in bed with American military industry.

It is more in line with American foreign policy and their interior civil service (anti-extremism globally and pushing against the new right at home)

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#189

Post by sundvor » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:50 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #76

severine wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: what are some examples of great content virtually erased from the web by search engines?

Great and obscure content --- that you'd most want a search engine to find, tends to be at most risk. For one example, I've noticed that finding information on obscure electronics part numbers has gotten much harder, and the search results are getting "diluted" with useless "fillter" results that don't even contain all the words you're searching for. Example queries I've had poor luck with recently: TVN_DELETEITEM re…

Are you using the Verbatim search mode under Search tools, which replaces "All Results"? Makes a huge difference in getting rid of those suggestions etc.

Re: It appears my Google account is slated for deletion

#190

Post by crdoconnor » Wed, Sep 13, 2017, 9:52 AM UTC

rphlx wrote: post #144

taurath wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cynical side of me thinks that a society with no control over (certain) information is one which is more vulnerable to control by bad actors. We have more of a filtering problem than an access problem at the moment - there's too much information to support all beliefs so people are more likely to become entrenched in whatever they do believe.

> a society with no control over (certain) information is one which is more vulnerable to control by bad actors. Centralized (state and/or corporate) control over information is itself an incredible asset to bad actors. Goebbels et al..

Pre-hutton BBC was good and Al Jazeera still is. It's not all Goebbels, especially when that state media has a charter that asserts its independence and commitment to objective reporting.