An update to storage policies across your Google Account • Hacker News Board

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#51

Post by jefftk » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #5

bird_monster wrote: post #2

Delete? Or just make it unavailable to you? If delete, sign me up.

That's a good point. I think google doesn't delete anything unless the law forces them to do so.

That's not correct. If you delete things they are actually deleted, though it does take a few months to be gone from everywhere. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19965615, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12980863, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19809320, etc)

(Disclosure: I work for google, speaking only for myself)

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#52

Post by javagram » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

Set a reminder every 3 or 6 months to use Google Takeout. Download a full copy of your data to a hard drive in your local possession.

If you’re really paranoid, download a 2nd copy and put it on a hard drive that you then leave unplugged from all computers and the internet until the next time.

Simple solution for anyone with broadband, and then if you ever lost your cloud data due to subscription lapsing or inactivity you have 1-2 local copies for you or your family.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#53

Post by bcrosby95 » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

rektide wrote: post #3

I used to tell my relatives to use Google Photos, so we wouldn't all lose their photos. I no longer tell them to use Google Photos. Edit: Some of my relatives are growing old. There's a lot of talk of backups & storage. But none of that is going to preserve the digital memories we have shared, after they die. All the old URLs that have been shared will, not rot & wither, but one day just up and vanish. Up to the big…

I've always told my relatives to get a huge hard drive, backblaze for backup, and stick all their photos on their own computer. If they want to use the cloud for convenience that's fine, but if the service decides to cancel your account you should always have another place with your data.

My wife currently has a 2TB nvme ssd in her Thinkpad laptop. Around 1TB of that is pictures and photos.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#54

Post by dudus » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

fhrow4484 wrote: post #9

The same happened to my old "...@hotmail.com" email, Microsoft deleted old childhood emails, still bitter about that. Per https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail... , the limit is 365 days of inactivity.

That has to be why they call it office 365.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#55

Post by aketchum » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:22 PM UTC

gtirloni wrote: post #48

These posts bashing Google are getting tiring. No sensible free email service will hold your emails forever, especially if you're not using your account. I'd invite people without knowledge of running a business to take the time and think this through before jumping in the outrage bandwagon.

While I would normally agree with you, Google has advertised unlimited, free storage forever for things like photos and email. They should not have made that promise and I understand why they are breaking the promise now, but if you break a promise it seems reasonable for people to be irate about it.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#56

Post by jefftk » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:22 PM UTC

0_____0 wrote: post #10

rektide wrote: post #3

I used to tell my relatives to use Google Photos, so we wouldn't all lose their photos. I no longer tell them to use Google Photos. Edit: Some of my relatives are growing old. There's a lot of talk of backups & storage. But none of that is going to preserve the digital memories we have shared, after they die. All the old URLs that have been shared will, not rot & wither, but one day just up and vanish. Up to the big…

i've been meaning to buy a pro-quality photo printer... had the idea to host a party where people can pitch in for materials and i could print all our photos on nice archival paper and we'd spend an evening scrapbooking

If you just want the photos printed, a printing service will be much cheaper. You're paying a lot for the privilege of being able to print high quality photos in your own home.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#57

Post by gubby » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:22 PM UTC

xiphias2 wrote: post #40

kelchm wrote: post #16

Headline seems inaccurate/ misleading to me. Quote from Google in the article: > If you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos Honestly that seems far more generous than I’d expect — why should Google (or any other company) be expected to store your data indefinitely if you stop paying them?

Because the reason I signed up for GMail in 2004 was that they promised that they keep my emails forever

Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1150/

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#58

Post by gravitas » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

izacus wrote: post #36

jamesfe wrote: post #30

What's another good email provider? I am starting to feel really nervous about storing my life in Google. It's not that I wouldn't pay for these things...it's just that I worry one day I'll lose access and fall into the pit of "trying to get Google to help a single human regain access" that sounds horrible.

FastMail / ProtonMail are good. But even they won't just store your mail forever for free.

I chose FastMail + domain (standard plan, one user) after spending way too long weighing all the provider options this year; so far it's been great for me (email only, files/data went elsewhere).

The hardest part is dealing with all the websites who (a) don't let you change your email, (b) require you to contact Support to change your email, or (c) break when you try to change your email. FastMail migrated everything (contacts too) from GMail with one click and set up an IMAP poller against it while you work on the long road to convert. $0.02

Edit: just to cover my bases, a 10-year registration of the domain was < $100 USD at Namesilo.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#59

Post by joshuakelly » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

This is speculation, but I wonder if this is not the outcome of legal compliance efforts with respect to defined data retention periods in various pieces of consumer privacy legislation over the last few years.

From Recital 39 of the GDPR:

"This requires, in particular, ensuring that the period for which the personal data are stored is limited to a strict minimum. Personal data should be processed only if the purpose of the processing could not reasonably be fulfilled by other means. In order to ensure that the personal data are not kept longer than necessary, time limits should be established by the controller for erasure or for a periodic review."

In the context of F500, I've seen compliance efforts around this that have mandated deletion in the case of inactivity for consumer applications that most people would have reasonably assumed would have been kept around even if they didn't log in.

This is hinted at in the article "...to better align with common practices across the industry, the company said on Wednesday." And if we're going to take a cynical view, wouldn't it be that Google would never delete user data (the source of their revenue) unless they absolutely had to?

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#60

Post by brnt » Thu, Dec 03, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

xiphias2 wrote: post #40

kelchm wrote: post #16

Headline seems inaccurate/ misleading to me. Quote from Google in the article: > If you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos Honestly that seems far more generous than I’d expect — why should Google (or any other company) be expected to store your data indefinitely if you stop paying them?

Because the reason I signed up for GMail in 2004 was that they promised that they keep my emails forever

They promised 1GB, had a counter that slowly increased and thens settled at 15GB, as I remember.