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Google Docs Is Randomly Flagging Files for Violating Its Terms of Service (vice.com)
Louise Matsakis, writing for Motherboard: Google Docs, the collaborative, cloud-based word processing software, appears to be randomly flagging files for supposedly "violating" Google's Terms of Service. A member of Motherboard's team, as well as numerous users on Twitter, report that their documents are being locked for no apparent reason. Once a document is flagged, the owner of that document can no longer share it with other users. Users who have already been shared on a document that's been flagged are kicked out and can no longer access it. When a draft Motherboard article was locked on Monday morning, a message took over the screen that read "This item has been flagged as inappropriate and can no longer be shared." It's not clear why this is happening, but it may be the result of a glitch in the system Google uses to monitor Google Docs. DownDetector is currently reporting Google Drive problems in the US and Europe, which may be part of the problem.
Commonly-used software has bug(s), users impacted, company investigating fix. That story, and your local weather, right after this word from our sponsors.
Sounds like the perfect time to finally ditch WordPerfect and use a modern, cloud-based word processor.
"...a glitch in the system Google uses to monitor Google Docs..."
wtf does this mean? the cynic in me can fill in the blanks but I'll wait for a more informed bit of info
How's that 'Cloud' working out for ya?
"Cloud is a nicer way of saying 'someone else's computer that you have no control over'."
I've been seeing a lot of messages on twitter about people who can't access their documents and don't have local copies. I guess they won't make that mistake again.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
It continues to astound me how many people I know, who'd I'd expect to know better, have all their emails only accessed by webmail. No POP client to save a local copy.
Ditto those who entire contact database is only on their cellphone.
Maybe it's only the Wall Street crowd?
It's certainly not the advertisers because they're getting screwed every which way possible as well. It wasn't that long ago that several companies showed that the effectiveness of online advertising just isn't there. So what did Alphabet do? It must be those pesky content generating people who make their platform worthwhile in going to in the first place. We must crack down on them!
Let's not talk about how ineffective certain targeted ads are. Let's not talk about how the system was abused for propaganda purposes.
No. Instead let's work on cutting into people's livelihoods and make everyone nervous that instead. That's the distracting ticket!
as with all Google properties.
AC comments get piped to
Apple haters gonna hate to admit this, but Apple's iCloud Drive does not read your docs.
Now cloud, which is actually water vapor, is all the rage and everyone and his brother wants to put their stuff in the cloud.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
The real glitch is that Google can monitor it and flag it. Period. Maybe a lesser contributing factor of TANSTAAFL. Change to a word processor that can't be monitored and you don't have a problem.
Also use a picture of Alfred E. Neuman. How are they going to prove it isn't me?
If you actually care about your data keep it on computers that your control; physically and administratively control. There is no other defensible position.
No one will EVER care as much about your data as you do.
The reason for this is simple: they (the providers) have other customers.
You only have your data.
Its just that simple.
So Google is reading private documents on it's servers. That's why I don't use google docs.
All your inventions are now Google's.
I pointed this out when I was building some Google Docs extraction and publishing software. No one cared because that was how everyone used it, so they wouldn't ban everyone.
If you want to Draft in Google Docs, then you have to Publish using Google Docs... why else would Google provide you with free services?
you're an idiot.
Pretty much answers the question: should you move your personal computing into the cloud? Just how brain damaged would you need to be, to buy Google's (or any other megacorp's) koolaid pitch about the cloud, as opposed to just downloading Libreoffice for free, and using it securely in the safety of your own device? Which of course is running Linux to actually be safe... oh, I forgot, there is a lot of brain damage going down out there.
Word to the wise: use the cloud only for throwaway stuff you don't mind sharing with the world. Your private affairs? Don't be an idiot.
This advice applies to Gmail and its ilk too, though admittedly, few have the wherewithall to operate their own secure email server in their own domain. I do, sorry if you can't. But your ISP's email service (remember when everybody used that?) is a way better idea than the spy cloud.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
This probably doesn't apply to google docs or any other online office systems. But it certainly applies to online storage like dropbox or whatever the fuck microsoft is calling theirs this week. If you are going to use such services encrypt your damn documents. They can't remove if they can't read it, unless they just decide to remove all encrypted documents.
And for god sakes keep recent, local backups. Since dropbox stores shit in a folder on your computer just have that folder get backuped up in your normal back up routine.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
. . . welcome our new AI overloards.
Thanks for the tech support update. It doesn't sounds like Google has changed any kind of policy - rather is having an issue enforcing current policy.
In other news - my Intel video driver update is causing Outlook to draw a black page when I plug in an external monitor. Choosing "disable hardware acceleration" appears to be the work around.
Public service --- Just incase anyone else needs to know about that bug too. I'll post it to twitter hoping to make it a Slashdot article. The twitter universe - where all the news that isn't is published.
But the that's none of my business. I hope someone loses a shitload of money when Google does this. That would be pretty entertaining.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I've never had a word processing application on my laptop start denying access to my own files. Use a hosted service, get hosted service problems.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Google "'CENSOR BEAMS' on MaXiMuM!!!" - Seig Heil, Mein Fuhrer - RoTfLmAo!
* "Do you like what you see?"
APK
P.S.=> Absolute power corrupting absolutely in order to push THEIR agenda (or rather their globalist masters' agenda)... apk
This is Orwellian.
I doubt someone programmed the system to use a random number source to determine which files get flagged. Assuming this is true, then it is not "randomly" flagging files. Rather, there is a bug in the algorithm that is causing incorrect files to be flagged. It may "appear" random to the casual, nonscientific observer, but I assure you, it is not.
I have stuff on Google Docs, but if they locked it, I have local copies on my desktop, laptop, and thumb drive, not to mention other online places.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
China's hackers are punishing Google for not bowing to the government.
Don't be silly. That would have shown up in testing.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I suggest that 'probably' and 'backup' are a scary combination.
I can tell you exactly why it's "not appropriate": because it's hosted on someone else's system and utterly depends on them for access and security (including security vs DoS)! That's a completely absurd way to treat most data. The chances that Google Docs is the right fit for you are greater than zero, but not much.
You can correct the problem of inappropriateness by storing your data yourself, under your control. That will fix the underlying problem, thereby causing your document to be stored appropriately and with maximum value (including tool interoperability) to you.
Then if Google Docs still isn't able to work with the data on your local computer or your server, then Google Docs is silly and relatively underpowered joke compared to your typical 1970s microcomputer. You should upgrade to 1970s-or-later tech.
APK
Have you heard they are planning to remove host files from Windows 10?
M$'d be better of removing Windows 10 from their Operating System lineup (nobody uses it unless they're ignorant OR bribed).
APK
P.S.=> Seriously (& afaik, you're FULL of it w/ your comment) - Windows 10 is SO "F'd-Up" nobody I know who did try it liked it over Windows 7 (last decent version of Windows there is)... apk
Here's another report of the same Google problem, including Google's response: "A mysterious message is locking Google Docs users out of their files"
'And they do go over and snoop your stuff, and they will even lock you out.
That's it in a nutshell.
"... cloud, which is actually water vapor..."
Funny.
What an utterly stupid fault to build in as a feature. Obviously Google Doc is viewed as a toy at best by Google.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
If your document's checksum is unusually similar to the checksum of anything in the "illegal" set, the system is right to flag it. If you have such a document, just change a few minor alterations or toss some more bogus metadata in and re-upload it with a different name.
...it's only Skynet becoming sentient.
Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.
I seriously doubt Google is just flagging files at random, which would make no sense. Clearly they are using some algorithm that is not working properly, which should lead one to believe that this problem can be fixed. The summary mentioning "It's not clear why this is happening," is evidence that the title not just incorrect but also alarmist and kind of whiny because this is personal.
Google is a convenient way to share and store documents, but if you use ANY one method of storage without any backup or contingency plan, that's on you when it fails.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Why are they scanning docs in the first place? Is that the price to pay for Google services?
Spammers figured out they can take all the @gmail.com email addresses they harvested and simply share a Google Doc with the recipients, to ensure 100% delivery.
And now to the ridiculous part: To report the document as abuse, you have to first open that document (which forces you to see it), then go to the menu option "Help --> Report Abuse/Copyright" (and then comically get to a screen that says "Internal Error, please try again later").
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...
So Google is scanning the content of your documents and making a decision whether or not they are "appropriate". Who decides "what's appropriate".
Thought Police?
ewwww EVIL
It could be BLATANT SPECULATION too.
We don't know... that's bad enough.