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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

#91
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you actually own the copyrighted content or have permission to have it?

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.

Well they still haven't figured it out with YouTube.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#92
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d place bets that >99.9999% of files on Google Drive are not.

Yes, but aren't the abusers now going to do exactly that?

Perhaps it may surprise you to learn that many "bad actors" are rather stupid. This is one of the few large advantages that defense has over offense in security matters.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#93
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 slightly more, but this is why I have stuck with Dropbox. Their only business is storage and it means they are less likely to do things like this. They have't been in the news, that I have seen, about actions like this. Google is a consumer hostile company at this point. Unless you have a friend with pull there, or make it a big enough news issue, the little things are treated with automated hostility. Google is…

Dropbox has the exact same policies and procedures, they just don't have the same technical abilities that Google has. Quoting from their AUP:

"...you must not even try to do any of the following ...: ...

- publish, share, or store materials that constitute child sexually exploitative material (including material which may not be illegal child sexual abuse material but which nonetheless sexually exploits or promotes the sexual exploitation of minors), unlawful pornography, or are otherwise indecent;

- publish, share, or store content that contains or promotes extreme acts of violence or terrorist activity, including terror propaganda;

- advocate bigotry or hatred against any person or group of people based on their race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or impairment;

...

We reserve the right to take appropriate action in response to violations of this policy, which could include removing or disabling access to content, suspending a user’s access to the Services, or terminating an account."

Quoting from their privacy FAQ:

"Examples of Dropbox processing your data in furtherance of its legitimate interests in operating our Services and business include:

...

- Investigating and preventing security issues and abuse of the Dropbox Services or Dropbox users."

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#94
post #73
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Copyright is supposed to be temporary. Instead terms have been extended to essentially infinite durations. The copyright industry has robbed us of our public domain rights.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#95
post #50
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.

Another benefit you get from using gmail is that it's do much simpler to give someone your email address. You just need to get the part before the @ correct, they won't misspell the Gmail.com. I moved much of my email to Fastmail with my own domain. However, when I rented a car earlier this week I gave them my Gmail address because it's just so much less painful especially since the clerk and I could barely understand each other with nearby noise and masks and plexi glass between us. Happens all the time.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#96
Why in god's name do so many people with even modest IT knowledge keep using this invasive dumpster fire of a cloud service with conditions like this one and others being piled on? There are so many affordable, secure and easy to use options on the web that trusting Google with your data seems absurd, especially considering how easily the company can simply permaban you for no discernible reason and not a human in range to dispute the matter with. At this stage, using any Google service is sort of like trying to expect decent customer service from the DMV and IRS rolled into one.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#97
post #50
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.

There is nothing in the slightest bit technical about opening an email account with protonmail, or fastmail or any number of other much less invasive email services. A protonmail et al account could even be called easier to open since Google lately asks for quite a bit in exchange for the "privilege" of having one of their email addresses. Gmail also constantly screws around with security blocks for blah blah reason that require backup email or phone verification gymnastics if you do any number of tiny things "wrong", like say, trying to log in from a new country.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maintaining a hash of say music files that are owned by large record label companies or a conglomerate like VeVo, match every audio file uploaded with the hash and if it matches, flag it, get it reviewed and if it matches, delete it?

That does not answer legality.

However, VeVo can say that no one can keep MP3 records if it isn't hosted on iTunes, YouTube Music or Spotify etc

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#99
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's slightly more, but this is why I have stuck with Dropbox. Their only business is storage and it means they are less likely to do things like this. They have't been in the news, that I have seen, about actions like this. Google is a consumer hostile company at this point. Unless you have a friend with pull there, or make it a big enough news issue, the little things are treated with automated hostility. Google is…

Dropbox has the exact same policies and procedures, they just don't have the same technical abilities that Google has. Quoting from their AUP: "...you must not even try to do any of the following ...: ... - publish, share, or store materials that constitute child sexually exploitative material (including material which may not be illegal child sexual abuse material but which nonetheless sexually exploits or promotes…

It's not the rules, those are common, it's the lack of human after. When the automation goes wrong, how much effort is it to get a human and to fix the issue. Or how many other services are taken down too. Google as an identity provider means that other third parties/devices are down in the mean time.

Re: Google Drive may restrict files identified as violating ToS

#100
post #2

Google says you can request a review if you believe something should not have been flagged as a ToS violation but no mention is given to any rights you have. To me this reads as "You can request whatever you want but it might not mean anything in reality.": https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2463328 Conversely, the information for how to report what you perceive as a ToS violation is far more complete: https://su…

The "but you can request a review!" handwaving all these massive tech platforms use to assuage concerns about heavy-handed (and coldly automated) policy application is really long overdue for serious consumer protection regulation.

I used to work at a big co on system like this. The appeal button sent your job for another review. Obviously it doesn’t cost anything to click a button so almost everyone did it. Appeal jobs were split into tiers based on customer size and higher tiers were worked first. Big enough customers got the white glove treatment from their account manager. Small customers could linger for months in the queue, but could usually get the decision reversed if they tried hard enough
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