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Google disabled my husband's account

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Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#271

Post by sangnoir »

luckylion wrote: post #256
sangnoir wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll play the devils advocate: moderating any platform is a challenging endeavor, mostly because of malicious users. Having all the rules broken down in detail allows bad actors to either get close to the line but not cross it, or abuse the system while technically not breaking any rules. As such, having very broad rules (read TOS) helps. Additionally, not having to explain exactly what was violated means that people…

> moderating any platform is a challenging endeavor, mostly because of malicious users. Having all the rules broken down in detail allows bad actors to either get close to the line but not cross it, or abuse the system while technically not breaking any rules. Couldn't that same argument be used to support secret laws and secret courts enforcing those secret laws? After all, we're definitely seeing the problem of peo…

> I think those laws would help tremendously, but mostly by forcing everyone to be overly cautious not to break them, creating strong chilling effects. They'd stifle freedom, and so does Google's secret law system.

No need to have new secret laws - there are already enough obscure laws that I guarantee you have broken many of them whose statute hasn't expired. That is why you shouldn't speak to cops without a lawyer.

That said - it's not a Google problem as it's the norm. Most services, banks or even potential employers will tell you the reason for declining service - not because they want a chilling effect, but because there are so many ways it can get wrong (for them).

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#272

Post by codazoda »

Animats wrote: post #201

Sue in small claims court. Costs about $50 to file, plus $100 or so for a process server. Check Google's terms of service.[1] They're not too bad. There's no forced arbitration. You can go to Small Claims Court in Santa Clara County, CA. Google lists the reasons they can terminate an account. It's not a "sole discretion" thing; they have specific reasons listed. So Google will have to show in court that you violated…

Maybe a good idea for most of us, probably a bad idea if you work there.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#273

Post by jasonv »

xibalba wrote: post #221

I understand this is frustrating, but reading through this person's thread, it reads as an absolute temper tantrum. A few choice quotes: > Our lives are in a bind because of this BULLSHIT > I am out of office reconsidering whether I should work at a company that continuously escalates its attacks towards my family. > [looking for]... A company that provides a steady salary and respects me, my nationality, culture, et…

Pretty much how I'd feel if I worked at G and they locked out my partner's account.

There's emotion there, but I don't see their words as being beyond the pale.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#274

Post by ceejayoz »

smallnamespace wrote: post #242
Animats wrote: post #201

Sue in small claims court. Costs about $50 to file, plus $100 or so for a process server. Check Google's terms of service.[1] They're not too bad. There's no forced arbitration. You can go to Small Claims Court in Santa Clara County, CA. Google lists the reasons they can terminate an account. It's not a "sole discretion" thing; they have specific reasons listed. So Google will have to show in court that you violated…

Being in the same small claims venue as the company is actually a nice side benefit to living in the Bay Area, otherwise you potentially be looking at thousands to hire a lawyer in normal court.

Not necessarily.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/small-cla...

> Most large national businesses can be sued in any state, but smaller businesses that are headquartered in another state, do no business in your state, and have no physical presence in your state can be sued only in the states where they operate.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#275

Post by alex_young »

smallnamespace wrote: post #242
Animats wrote: post #201

Sue in small claims court. Costs about $50 to file, plus $100 or so for a process server. Check Google's terms of service.[1] They're not too bad. There's no forced arbitration. You can go to Small Claims Court in Santa Clara County, CA. Google lists the reasons they can terminate an account. It's not a "sole discretion" thing; they have specific reasons listed. So Google will have to show in court that you violated…

Being in the same small claims venue as the company is actually a nice side benefit to living in the Bay Area, otherwise you potentially be looking at thousands to hire a lawyer in normal court.

Assuming you actually have been wronged Google will wind up paying all of your costs right?

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#276

Post by pugworthy »

jebronie wrote: post #56

Maybe they detected highly illegal content and won't disclose it for those reasons (could be an ongoing investigation).

Since you're bringing up the idea that perhaps the ban was legitimate, it really does need to be mentioned that one scenario here is that the user did actually fail to comply with the terms or policies.

But even if this were the case, it is pretty unfair to not at least know what you are being accused of.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#277

Post by rootusrootus »

This is the part that everyone overlooks when they're basking in the glow if their fancy new free email account. You're not really a customer in the traditional sense, so you have very little leverage. Don't rely on such an account to be the center of your digital life. Don't rely that way on a paid account, either, but still, especially not a free one provided by a huge megacorp.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#278

Post by partiallypro »

kodah wrote: post #146
partiallypro wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took 6 months for Facebook to get to an appeal of mine to unban a page. I was happy it was unbanned, but the ticket said "1-2 business weeks" in the turn around...I was never contacted for an entire 6 months. If that had been a crucial page for me that brought in revenue for me, I'd have been completely screwed. Google is also hard to get a hold of for anything unless you're a partner.

I worked at a startup where we used Google Cloud. Even as a paying customer, when I'd try to talk to their "support" all they would do is try to upsell their consulting partners to answer a question about their own services.

That's wild, we're a fairly small Azure customer (compared to others) and I get calls and emails every month from a rep asking us what they can do, if anything. I think Microsoft is maybe a bit smarter at this by connecting sales to CSMs, because they can up sell and get you to support if you need it. While with Google it's a big shell game.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#279

Post by relaxing »

sangnoir wrote: post #217
reaperducer wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll play the devils advocate Why?

Because it is necessary to develop a "theory of mind" to figure out why some entities behave the way they do. You'll encounter fewer surprises that way :) edit: also, I have the battle scars from moderated a few niche online forums/properties that were mildly popular. People who abuse services are surprisingly tenacious and creative. If there is the potential to make money - even a little - you get abusers who are te…

I don’t think anyone suggested moderating shouldn’t happen or that it isn’t hard. This situation isn’t the result of unpaid mods of a web forum - Google has incredibly vast resources at its disposal.

Unfortunately the devil’s advocate has brought us no closer to an understanding of the problems posed by OP: how to appeal an unknown violation, how to regain access to ones data, etc.

Re: Google disabled my husband's account

#280

Post by bobbob1921 »

Issues like this- are why I jump’d through hoops to have a somewhat secure , somewhat reliable, and somewhat consistent- on-Prem back up of my Google (gsuite) data.

It’s not as easy and robust as it should be, but it helps me sleep a tad bit better at night.

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