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Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

ww.9to5google.com

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Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#111

Post by oarsinsync »

gowld wrote: post #88
Spooky23 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol. The potential impact of a large company screwing up is massive. The risk is lower. I would assert that the probability of an individual overexposing their own data in any one year period is probably close to 75%. In my neighborhood, 5-6 cars are broken into every week, because the owners don’t lock the doors. If a process that simple isn’t handled well, folks aren’t handling more complex/abstract processes.

How do I leak my email or photos from my local machine? And if I do, then I'm likely still leaking my local cache/copy even if I use cloud.

> How do I leak my email or photos from my local machine?

Click the 'not now' button when your browser or OS pops up asking you to install a patch.

Open .jpg.exe.

Download pirated software that is infected with other malware.

Visit dodgy websites in an overly permissive browser in order to stream some media without spending money.

(Most people, myself included, are guilty of at least one, if not more, of the above)

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#112

Post by martythemaniak »

I posted this here a while back, some super-weird compilation of what appeared to be a random video showed up in my Assistant.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20373112

Seems like something similar. Ie, someone else's weird crap was used by my account's Assitant to make a compilation/summary.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#113

Post by gregsadetsky »

Does anyone have suggestions for a self hosted photo service with - importantly - a solid iOS companion app to do photo sync and possibly browse photos?

I would prefer using a simple S3 backend. It seems that finding a reliable photo sync'ing app for iOS (outside of Google Photos or Dropbox) is difficult.

I've been manually using Image Capture and uploading to S3 but that's quite inefficient. Thanks!

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#114

Post by wizzwizz4 »

thedance wrote: post #87
dehrmann wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mine is just my last name @gmail.com. It is a rather uncommon name I'm in the same boat. And uncommon, but not rare. I've gotten emails intended for my brother. One time, I got a collector emailing about something with a rental car crash that I previously got confirmation email for. Recently, a Dutch woman discovered email and think she has my email address. It's amazing how many websites don't verify email address…

If Eurocrats really want to save the Internet they'd fine companies for sending anything to recipients who haven't been double-verified.

What does “double-verified” even mean? Though, in case you were wondering, GDPR requires continued consent for companies to use your email address; they have to delete it if they don't keep getting permission to keep it.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#115

Post by nkrisc »

So far it seems that Google is notifying the people who received videos that weren't theirs, not yet the people what had their video leaked.

> Google has been sending emails to affected Takeout users. In the email, which was first spotted by 9to5Google, Google writes, "Some videos in Google Photos were incorrectly exported to unrelated user's archives. One or more videos in your Google Photos account was affected by this issue. If you downloaded your data, it may be incomplete, and it may contain videos that are not yours."

> While this message is directed to Google Takeout users who tried to download their own data and accidentally got someone else's, we've yet to see a message directed to the "unrelated users" whose videos ended up in the archive. We've asked Google if it plans to notify users who have had their private videos exposed, and we'll update this article if the company responds.

From https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/02/google-photos-bug-le...

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#117

Post by blowski »

compiler-guy wrote: post #98
RHSeeger wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only question is, is your cloud provider less likely to make mistakes with your data than you are? No, the second question, which is a multiplier of the first, is how catastrophic the mistakes can be. Google _can_ accidentally do much worse things with your data, but it probably much less likely to make mistakes with it in the first place.

Yep. If I screw up, then the worst case is pretty much that the data is gone. If the cloud provider screws up, then the worst case is that my video goes viral and lives on the internet forever. It isn't hard to imagine some troll finding he got some embarrassing video via takeout and putting it up on reddit for everyone to see.

Other worst cases - you leave the firewall wide open, and some script kiddies steal the photos, replace them with kiddie porn and refer you to the police.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#118

Post by thedance »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #114
thedance wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Eurocrats really want to save the Internet they'd fine companies for sending anything to recipients who haven't been double-verified.

What does “double-verified” even mean? Though, in case you were wondering, GDPR requires continued consent for companies to use your email address; they have to delete it if they don't keep getting permission to keep it.

"Verified double opt-in" is a term of art in the world of email. It means you provide your address to consent to emails and you confirm the address with a link sent via email.

https://mailchimp.com/help/about-double-opt-in/

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#119

Post by dhimes »

oarsinsync wrote: post #106
danielrhodes wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't trust, and never will trust, any company to hold on to my data without either selling it to a third party or accidentally leaking it. This is a very black and white way of looking at trust. Trust is earned, it can be broken, it can be rebuilt. All human relationships are built upon trust, and it is fallible just like anything else. To have trust is to create vulnerability. However, just as you mention, that…

> All human relationships are built upon trust Relationships with corporations are not the same as human relationships. Being open with other humans is part of the human experience. Being open with special legal entities that we have fabricated as societies for economic gain is justifiably questionable.

Even so, I'm not convinced that trust can be completely rebuilt. Maybe it varies with the person, even in human relationships.

Re: Some Google Photos videos in backups were sent to strangers in November

#120

Post by trequartista »

dyingkneepad wrote: post #77
thedance wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get an absolutely endless parade of other people's data to my gmail account. Doctors send me MRI scans. Bankers send me foreclosure notices. Airlines send me tickets. Undertakers send me condolences. The preponderance of evidence suggests that relying on individual vigilance on a large scale does not work as well as relying on the vigilance of large organizations.

Your experience is far different than mine. In 15 years I only got probably like 2 accidental emails. Is your email something like john@gmail.com?

My email is firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Both my first and last names are not super common, but off-late I'm seeing multiple people with the same combination when I google my name. I get bank statements from 3 different banks, job offers and even the occasional nude selfie - all intended for someone else. I have tried to reply, click on unsubscribe links - but nothing seems to work. It stops for a few days and it starts again.
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