Google has a reputation for sometimes randomly banning people, from all Google-controlled properties at once, for opaque reasons that are suspected to be malfunctioning automated systems. They have no appeals process, and if these stories do ever get resolved later, we don't hear about it.<p>This means every time I look at a new Google product, I ask: If every Google product I use shut off at once, how bad would it be to add this one to the list? So Google Pay, for example, is a total nonstarter; in a situation where most of my communication methods suddenly break, simultaneously losing access to credit cards would be literally life threatening. Similarly, I could never recommend Google Cloud Platform to an employer; losing the ability to do system-administration work at the same time as losing access to gmail would just be too much to manage.
> My photos since I was a baby till nowadays (23 years of images), my niece's photos since she was in her mom's womb, my essential files, ALL passwords, reminders, and google login accounts. Everything is gone!<p>> my google play account with my apps, my google extension developer with my extensions, my google AdMob with all of my unpaid revenue, firebase, google analytics, and google search console...<p>I’d like to apply this algorithmic ban to Google employees’ private Google accounts so they too can experience the joy of getting punched in the face without recourse.<p>I “only” have my emails left at Google. Starting July they want to take my money for what they promised to be a free service forever. I actually look forward to migrating away from them so I find inner peace again.
The biggest problem is being treated like a criminal rather than a customer. I’ve dealt in the small business space for a long time and we <i>never</i> deprive a user of their data even if we end up hating each other.<p>Western governments need to start acting on behalf of the people. Break up big tech and bring the hammer down on companies that usurp a persons lifelong data archive and refuse to give them a copy.<p>I have Google Workspace Legacy accounts, so my family has stayed with Google for far to long. That’s ending this month. Even if it sucks and we lose some data, purchases, etc. right now, the long term benefit of abandoning Google is better for everyone IMO.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. It should be illegal to fully ban accounts. Figure out how to make them readonly. That's the only ban type that should happen. Yes, even if there is illegal content. If you really have to, quarantine the illegal content, but keep the rest of the account available.<p>Unless the failure rate is literally 0%, there should never be a permanent full ban.<p>Apply this to companies over a certain size.
Infuriating. If you are based in Europe you can invoke Article 22 of the GDPR and get support of your local data protection inspectorate:
"The data subject shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her."<p>There is perhaps the same in other juridictions (like California).
I don't use any other service by Google except Gmail and Maps (anonymously), and all my message base is already backed up online at Fastmail plus locally. The day they don't accept anymore POP mail clients or do anything nasty, is the day I send all my contacts my new mail address and forget about Google. They pushed and killed a lot of services, and the way they deal with user support makes them highly unreliable for pretty much everything except tracking users and advertising.<p>Google unprofessionalism aside, the most reliable cloud storage in the world can't beat a solid local backup. Never ever keep your files in single copy, no matter who is the cloud storage provider; always keep a local backup, or to be more precise, the cloud storage should be one of the two backups, not the original.
Person in question doesn't actually know that they were banned for uploading Python code.
While the lack of due process absolutely does suck and I hate to defend google, but reason for this ban is speculation.
It could be something else, something much more banworthy.
Google's old motto: Don't be evil<p>Google's new motto since April 2018: Do the right thing. Be evil.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil</a>