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An unwanted update to your Google Account

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Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#81

Post by croes »

remram wrote: post #24
Jaygles wrote: post #2

I understand the author's frustration. But until someone finds out how a company that operates globally can satisfy the laws of the countries their customers are located in without associating the accounts with a country, I'm not sure what we can do. > What I find curious is that it says the services are essentially the same between different countries. So, there is no advantage to me as a consumer for anything to ch…

Yes I find it weird that they both resent having local laws apply (when it's Malaysia) but value being covered by GDPR (when it's Germany). I can't really understand what they are wishing for.

Both are german citizens and both are not in the country to which they are now to be assigned. The latter wasn't even in Thailand at all. So I guess they just don't want that Google makes some bullshit associations for them which undermie the GDPR.

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#82

Post by tomxor »

tomxor wrote: post #21

Lets be honest.. it's not "your account" it's "their account". It's not just Google, this is the modern web. If you use a web based service I think it's better to assume everything you give them is theirs, otherwise it's an impossible battle of constantly reviewing massive ToS changes and a mutating product/features. I guess this view probably sounds a little out of touch but it's easier if you don't use a smart phon…

wow, what's going on here? Is google now a sensitive subject?

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#83

Post by bellyfullofbac »

ajross wrote: post #56
masklinn wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well... is the author actually in Maylasia or Germany? It seems rather clear that the author is physically in Malaysia. > I mean, that matters. Kinda but kinda not? If you're an american citizen and for some reason go spend 6 months or a year in Malaysia, you probably don't want your accounts to be switched over to Malaysia, and possibly Malaysian, a language you probably do not speak.

Localization settings are distinct from location, they're just defaults. You can read Google in German right here in the US, etc... The author was concerned about losing privacy protection offered by Google to people in Germany as required by German law. Which is nonsensical, because German law does nothing to protect you in Maylasia .

Ah, obnoxious geo-IP-based defaults, rather than respecting the browser's "Accept-Language" HTTP header.

I remember Google forums there were angry servicemen that got Google in Arabic when they flew to Kuwait...

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#84

Post by croes »

ajross wrote: post #30

Well... is the author actually in Maylasia or Germany? I mean, that matters. You don't get to personally choose whose laws you're subject to, nor does Google. Having your Google settings set to Germany does nothing to protect you from Maylay law, nor Google for that matter. If you don't want to be subject to the laws of the country you're in[1] you have to move . Google can't help you. [1] Edit: I guess in this circu…

What about Dan Schroeder? He wasn't even in Thailand at all.

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#85

Post by IX-103 »

ajross wrote: post #56
masklinn wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well... is the author actually in Maylasia or Germany? It seems rather clear that the author is physically in Malaysia. > I mean, that matters. Kinda but kinda not? If you're an american citizen and for some reason go spend 6 months or a year in Malaysia, you probably don't want your accounts to be switched over to Malaysia, and possibly Malaysian, a language you probably do not speak.

Localization settings are distinct from location, they're just defaults. You can read Google in German right here in the US, etc... The author was concerned about losing privacy protection offered by Google to people in Germany as required by German law. Which is nonsensical, because German law does nothing to protect you in Maylasia .

According to the EU, GDPR protections apply to EU citizens wherever they are in the world...

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#86

Post by Brajeshwar »

Oh! I'd love to be able to change the country of my Google Apps for Domains. I have tried few times, whenever I remember but gave up.

Why do I want to change?

When I signed up, the currency was USD and perhaps the country stayed USA too! There was no Indian pricing at that time (I think over a decade ago). For the US pricing, I pay $30 monthly for a 5-member plan. I want to leverage the Indian pricing of ₹125 (~$1.6) per account per month.

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#87

Post by elcano »

Google services between Germany and Malaysia might be essentially the same. But that might not be the case if Google decides to relocate you out of the United States. Even those US Citizens who live in a USA territory like Puerto Rico or US Virgin Islands constantly receive a variant of the message 'this service is not available in your country'. Be aware that as a US territory, Puerto Rico and USVI are subject to the same federal laws (and financial system) as any other state, so technically they aren't foreign/alien. But a private company like Google can choose to underserve what is not strategic for them. Google uses either your IP address or the postal address of your payment method to find out that you don't live in the 50 states (or DC). When launching some services, Google starts in US (or course), excluding their territories. Then they expand to other countries, again skipping the United States territories, which continue receiving the 'this service is not available in your country' message' practically forever. This happened with Google Music. Also YouTube videos apparently market for USA market only were not playable here. Google controls the YouTube platform and there's no excuse for not negotiating including all the US territories in the definition of USA for YouTube uploaders.

Recently they made YouTube Premium available in this market. And with the YouTube Music change, this also came included. However, I don't know if they fixed completely fixed the issue of viewing USA only videos from here.

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#88

Post by croes »

What if I just use VPN of a foreign country?

If they switch the country, did you get the prices of the new country or do you have to pay the prices of the original country association?

Isn't it a violation of privacy to track the user in that way?

Would it not be the correct way to ask for prove, that he resides in Germany and not simply switch the country?

Re: An unwanted update to your Google Account

#90

Post by izacus »

IX-103 wrote: post #85
ajross wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Localization settings are distinct from location, they're just defaults. You can read Google in German right here in the US, etc... The author was concerned about losing privacy protection offered by Google to people in Germany as required by German law. Which is nonsensical, because German law does nothing to protect you in Maylasia .

According to the EU, GDPR protections apply to EU citizens wherever they are in the world...

That's wrong. According to EU, GDPR applies to EU residents and the companies need to protect EU resident privacy no matter which country they hail from.
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