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>(Well and compounded by the fact that there is probably no content left to restore). Google never deletes anything. Ever. The "deletion" is just another data

>(Well and compounded by the fact that there is probably no content left to restore). Google never deletes anything. Ever. The "deletion" is just another data point for them. The content is certainly retained.

bitmapbrother 10y ago
Can you please cite this or is this just BS speculation.
- paul 10y ago
  It's BS speculation. (and false)
- honkhonkpants 10y ago
  It's BS speculation from the tin-hat wing, frequently cut-and-pasted on this site. At Google there is a finite time between when you delete something and when it has to become unreachable through all frontends and APIs, and when it later has to cease to exist, and then finally when the last backup of the data must have been wiped. Source: I personally had to implement the monitoring and alerting that ensures this is the case for a major, privacy-sensitive Google product. However you should note that if you used a managed Google account, such as educational or corporate account, your ability to truly delete anything may be curtailed by your domain's administration.
  - Karunamon 10y ago
    It's not a totally insane belief to have. Facebook infamously held onto a "deleted" picture belonging to an Ars Technica writer for well over three years. [1] Hanlon's Razor would just dismiss that as "CDN's are hard", but it doesn't explain why the one picture owned by the author that they emailed Facebook about finally went away, but others they had the URLs for did not. Whether it be malice or stupidity, I think the sane default belief is that "delete" doesn't actually remove the bits in most cases, and that goes double for PII brokers like Facebook and Google. Act accordingly. [1]: http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-facebook-photos-are-still-online/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later...
nikanj 10y ago
Other sources have implied the blog in question was hosting something Google considered erotica featuring kids. Unsurprisingly, Google does indeed delete the child porn they encounter, not keep it as a "data point".
- jacalata 10y ago
  Really? I would have guessed that they absolutely had a copy, if only to hand over to law enforcement - and more likely, to submit as training data for PhotoDNA if they don't have their own similar work.
  - schneidmaster 10y ago
    Sure, but that doesn't take particularly long and is probably automated to minimize employee exposure. They certainly don't keep copies of child porn on their servers indefinitely (this would obviously be illegal, among other things).
    - nojvek 10y ago
      Isn't there a law for data retention ? Once you press delete, it needs to go poof in 90 days?
FT_intern 10y ago
Practically speaking, most user data is useless and costs disk space $$$ to store.

bitmapbrother 10y ago

Can you please cite this or is this just BS speculation.

paul 10y ago
It's BS speculation. (and false)
honkhonkpants 10y ago
It's BS speculation from the tin-hat wing, frequently cut-and-pasted on this site. At Google there is a finite time between when you delete something and when it has to become unreachable through all frontends and APIs, and when it later has to cease to exist, and then finally when the last backup of the data must have been wiped. Source: I personally had to implement the monitoring and alerting that ensures this is the case for a major, privacy-sensitive Google product. However you should note that if you used a managed Google account, such as educational or corporate account, your ability to truly delete anything may be curtailed by your domain's administration.
- Karunamon 10y ago
  It's not a totally insane belief to have. Facebook infamously held onto a "deleted" picture belonging to an Ars Technica writer for well over three years. [1] Hanlon's Razor would just dismiss that as "CDN's are hard", but it doesn't explain why the one picture owned by the author that they emailed Facebook about finally went away, but others they had the URLs for did not. Whether it be malice or stupidity, I think the sane default belief is that "delete" doesn't actually remove the bits in most cases, and that goes double for PII brokers like Facebook and Google. Act accordingly. [1]: http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-facebook-photos-are-still-online/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later...

nikanj 10y ago

Other sources have implied the blog in question was hosting something Google considered erotica featuring kids. Unsurprisingly, Google does indeed delete the child porn they encounter, not keep it as a "data point".

jacalata 10y ago
Really? I would have guessed that they absolutely had a copy, if only to hand over to law enforcement - and more likely, to submit as training data for PhotoDNA if they don't have their own similar work.
- schneidmaster 10y ago
  Sure, but that doesn't take particularly long and is probably automated to minimize employee exposure. They certainly don't keep copies of child porn on their servers indefinitely (this would obviously be illegal, among other things).
  - nojvek 10y ago
    Isn't there a law for data retention ? Once you press delete, it needs to go poof in 90 days?

FT_intern 10y ago

Practically speaking, most user data is useless and costs disk space $$$ to store.