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Well, I can't be sure about what the entire company is doing, but I've had an awful lot of code dealing with properly deleting accounts cross my inbox. If we'r

Well, I can't be sure about what the entire company is doing, but I've had an awful lot of code dealing with properly deleting accounts cross my inbox. If we're actually keeping data, then that'd be a shock to me.

nindalf 9y ago
Don't spoil the fun of the conspiracy theorists.
- quickben 9y ago
  Outside of the crazies, for the rest, ever considered that maybe you are just uninformed? Ten years ago, the ones telling people that agencies are storing everything by default, and Skype was bought/centralized to help with that were labeled as such. Nowdays it's "yea so"?
danieldk 9y ago
If we're actually keeping data, then that'd be a shock to me. So, why not just state in the terms of service that data is actually erased within N days/months after deletion? One could always list exceptions (such as business listings). Either Google cannot really guarantee that the data is deleted (due to its storage system); Google wants to reserve the right to retain some data in the future; or it is actually retaining some data. Otherwise, there is no point in putting this in your ToS. All three reasons are pretty worrisome. Also, what you say is provably false in a more general sense. Google retains all kinds of analytics/tracking data of internet users that you cannot have removed. When you visit a site with Google ads or analytics, Google is keeping data on you.
- mikejb 9y ago
  > Google is keeping data on you. IIUC that is anonymized data. The whole point then is that it cannot be associated to your account, i.e. cannot be removed when you delete your account. Otherwise, there's a shit-ton of law and regulations around this issue. I'm sure there are plenty of options for you to take when you think a company violates EU law. Safe Harbor got wrecked because a young fellow from Austria thought so and courts determined he was right.
kuschku 9y ago
Well, do you also remove the data from the backups, the backups of the backups, and any "probabilistic models generated from the data"? That’s the more interesting question.

nindalf 9y ago

Don't spoil the fun of the conspiracy theorists.

quickben 9y ago
Outside of the crazies, for the rest, ever considered that maybe you are just uninformed? Ten years ago, the ones telling people that agencies are storing everything by default, and Skype was bought/centralized to help with that were labeled as such. Nowdays it's "yea so"?

danieldk 9y ago

If we're actually keeping data, then that'd be a shock to me. So, why not just state in the terms of service that data is actually erased within N days/months after deletion? One could always list exceptions (such as business listings). Either Google cannot really guarantee that the data is deleted (due to its storage system); Google wants to reserve the right to retain some data in the future; or it is actually retaining some data. Otherwise, there is no point in putting this in your ToS. All three reasons are pretty worrisome. Also, what you say is provably false in a more general sense. Google retains all kinds of analytics/tracking data of internet users that you cannot have removed. When you visit a site with Google ads or analytics, Google is keeping data on you.

mikejb 9y ago
> Google is keeping data on you. IIUC that is anonymized data. The whole point then is that it cannot be associated to your account, i.e. cannot be removed when you delete your account. Otherwise, there's a shit-ton of law and regulations around this issue. I'm sure there are plenty of options for you to take when you think a company violates EU law. Safe Harbor got wrecked because a young fellow from Austria thought so and courts determined he was right.

kuschku 9y ago

Well, do you also remove the data from the backups, the backups of the backups, and any "probabilistic models generated from the data"? That’s the more interesting question.