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Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

workspaceupdates.googleblog.com

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Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#71

Post by Vespasian »

Manheim wrote: post #46

This is deeply disturbing news. It is already a problem that people get their Google accounts closed without any explanation from Google and with no response from Google when they try to contact them. A story about Elin Killie Martinsen, a Norwegian journalist and writer who lost access to her book manuscripts this way, was recently run in the national newspaper Aftenposten ( https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/8Qj1l…

I wonder whether we will see something similar to public utilities in the web.

Companies like Google would be required to provide a basic service to basically everyone and are required to go through a court before suspending accounts (or maybe just some core features).

On one hand it would enshrine their position in the market, on the other hand it would remove some of their ability to make arbitrary decisions with no recourse and no information why it hapended.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#72

Post by Tagbert »

dharmaturtle wrote: post #29
anshumankmr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But seriously how long is it before Google implements a hashing algorithm (not too dissimilar from Apple's) to check if a user has not uploaded content with a copyright on it and taking some form of action on the user. This feels like a slippery slope to be on.

Apple's CSAM would scan your offline photos. Google scanning photos you upload to their cloud seems fine to me. Not a slippery slope.

If they implement it, Apple's CSAM would scan your photos as they are being uploaded. Not really “offline”.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#73

Post by andi999 »

jevoten wrote: post #58
anshumankmr wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, that is an edge case which Google would need to figure out and perhaps, one of the many reasons they haven't done it.

Is it an edge case? Thanks to copyright's assault on the public domain, almost everything is copyrighted. Is making a backup of your movies, music, and e-books unusual?

What assault on public domain?

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#74

Post by GeekyBear »

dharmaturtle wrote: post #29
anshumankmr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But seriously how long is it before Google implements a hashing algorithm (not too dissimilar from Apple's) to check if a user has not uploaded content with a copyright on it and taking some form of action on the user. This feels like a slippery slope to be on.

Apple's CSAM would scan your offline photos. Google scanning photos you upload to their cloud seems fine to me. Not a slippery slope.

>Apple's CSAM would scan your offline photos.

Apple's plan was to to scan photos that you uploaded to iCloud, only. Even that plan was canceled.

Google, however, still does scan everything in your account and has been doing so for the past decade.

For instance, this article from 2014:

>a man [was] arrested on child pornography charges, after Google tipped off authorities about illegal images found in the Houston suspect's Gmail account

https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/06/why-the-gmail-scan-that-le...

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#75

Post by bvxhl »

jrockway wrote: post #52
fleddr wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very much a slippery slope. Their cloud doesn't mean its their content. If said content is public, I mostly agree, but not if its private. When I hire a storage box and put stuff in it, I don't own the storage box. Yet still it cannot be searched by anyone, not the company nor the authorities, unless there is a credible criminal suspicion.

I guess the question is, if someone emails you an archive of jpg files to share on your public website, will you? Without looking at them? I think that would be crazy. When they end up being CSAM or whatever, you're the one that will go to prison for possessing them, not the person that sent them to you.

So, after Google/YouTube have been aided in growth by the safe harbor clause, they now think that site owner responsibility is not such a bad thing after all?

Sounds more to me that they are pulling up the ladder to impede competitors.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#77

Post by Manheim »

r00fus wrote: post #50
Manheim wrote: post #46

This is deeply disturbing news. It is already a problem that people get their Google accounts closed without any explanation from Google and with no response from Google when they try to contact them. A story about Elin Killie Martinsen, a Norwegian journalist and writer who lost access to her book manuscripts this way, was recently run in the national newspaper Aftenposten ( https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/8Qj1l…

It's really bothering when the account just also happens to be your core email service so suddenly you have no way of recovering other accounts. Moving off Gmail is likely impossible for most non-technical folks.

True, they do have a "grip on people". I use gmail for my private email and I use Google Photos and Google disk for storage through a paid family account. I am considering a move to an European email and storage provider to avoid the almost moralistic TOS many US providers have to avoid liability issues, I just haven't decided which I should go for. It will come with a loss of convenience and that irritates me. The way Google have gotten me hooked to their walled garden.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#78

Post by jeffbee »

archhn wrote: post #68
semenko wrote: post #9

I don't quite grasp the panic about this: my impression is Google currently restricts ToS violations from sharing (your own access is retained). The only change here is end-users will be explicitly notified (and can theoretically contest the decision).

The panic is people's fear of the Iron Heel[1]. For most of us, the systems we depend on are controlled by other people. In this chaotic political climate, when these systems start closing in on us, or restricting us in new ways, there's no way of knowing where the tightening will end. Some are incredibly insulated and have no worries about the kind of world we're living in, but others are constantly on edge and feel…

The only basis we have for panic here is that reading skills and critical thinking are in dangerously short supply among commenters here, who collectively believe themselves to be smart and independent thinkers despite all available evidence.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#79

Post by Manheim »

Vespasian wrote: post #71
Manheim wrote: post #46

This is deeply disturbing news. It is already a problem that people get their Google accounts closed without any explanation from Google and with no response from Google when they try to contact them. A story about Elin Killie Martinsen, a Norwegian journalist and writer who lost access to her book manuscripts this way, was recently run in the national newspaper Aftenposten ( https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/8Qj1l…

I wonder whether we will see something similar to public utilities in the web. Companies like Google would be required to provide a basic service to basically everyone and are required to go through a court before suspending accounts (or maybe just some core features). On one hand it would enshrine their position in the market, on the other hand it would remove some of their ability to make arbitrary decisions with n…

That's an interesting idea and it correlates with the idea of "the right to access the internet". Maybe we will see this happen through similar standards we have for bank accounts and money transfers, or even electricity as we have in many countries. I think it at least some of the infrastructural services like storage and email should be regulated in one way or the other

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#80

Post by mkbkn »

bencollier49 wrote: post #59
fs111 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty email providers out there. Free and paid. It should not be a problem for anyone to switch. Moving off of Gmail doesn't mean to self host. It is a bit of work to tell anyone about your new address, but that's it.

Changing upwards of 200 logins to use a new email address may be troublesome. Do you keep a list?

First, I saved every login on Bitwarden and then used that to visit every website and changed login email info there and re-saved on Bitwarden.

The effort is only one time or one day at max. And the rewards are worth the time.

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