3 ms·

Not Google-specific, but access to production servers in the industry is heavily restricted to server ops roles so the majority of employees, even high ranking

Not Google-specific, but access to production servers in the industry is heavily restricted to server ops roles so the majority of employees, even high ranking ones, do not have unfettered server/db access. High ranking Google SRE's, on the other hand, can view your personal information as their job is to run and maintain the production servers where your personal information lives. I don't know what portion of Google employees are SREs but I would guess much less than 5 percent. I don't agree that Google is a major offender as far as negligent or malicious data/privacy leaks. Their security seems fairly top-notch, especially considering the context of new hacks/leaks that come out constantly from other companies.

illys 10y ago
"Their security seems fairly top-notch" That sounds optimistic: a mass-leak would be a major company issue touching its credibility, with a possible black-out if the hackers do not make it public. Think of Yahoo: how many years to admit a massive leak? In addition, who can be sure there are no DBA leaving with data on USB keys?
- lima 10y ago
  > In addition, who can be sure there are no DBA leaving with data on USB keys? Any large org has measures the prevent that sort of thing, including Google.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  I used to work in a vaulted research lab where any use of the USB ports on your machine and/or using a non-virus scanned CD would leave an alert to be audited by the security office. This wasn't even secret data, just in proximity of machines that might have contained some but policies are org-wide. This anecdote isn't really Google related, but just to say that big enterprises are tracking in ways you might not think about every day.
- androidbishop 10y ago
  This is an easy thing to confirm, and I guarantee you that nobody with physical access to machines also has access to any data ON those machines, nor can anybody simply copy over some data to a usb stick and walk out with it. We have a highly complex system with very strict security protocols, and the mere act of inserting a usb into a server in production would not only fail to work, but it would set off alarm bells like you wouldn't believe.

illys 10y ago

"Their security seems fairly top-notch" That sounds optimistic: a mass-leak would be a major company issue touching its credibility, with a possible black-out if the hackers do not make it public. Think of Yahoo: how many years to admit a massive leak? In addition, who can be sure there are no DBA leaving with data on USB keys?

lima 10y ago
> In addition, who can be sure there are no DBA leaving with data on USB keys? Any large org has measures the prevent that sort of thing, including Google.
tedmiston 10y ago
I used to work in a vaulted research lab where any use of the USB ports on your machine and/or using a non-virus scanned CD would leave an alert to be audited by the security office. This wasn't even secret data, just in proximity of machines that might have contained some but policies are org-wide. This anecdote isn't really Google related, but just to say that big enterprises are tracking in ways you might not think about every day.
androidbishop 10y ago
This is an easy thing to confirm, and I guarantee you that nobody with physical access to machines also has access to any data ON those machines, nor can anybody simply copy over some data to a usb stick and walk out with it. We have a highly complex system with very strict security protocols, and the mere act of inserting a usb into a server in production would not only fail to work, but it would set off alarm bells like you wouldn't believe.