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Of all the reasons to avoid Google, this seems to me like the biggest one that ironically is rarely addressed. If a malicious user flags your account as being i

Of all the reasons to avoid Google, this seems to me like the biggest one that ironically is rarely addressed. If a malicious user flags your account as being in violation of Google's ToS, then all of your Google accounts are at risk of being terminated with no appeal process, no information, and no substantiated hope of recovery. And as far as I understand it, that includes the serious possibility of total data loss from all Google services.

tyingq 8y ago
Right. It's worse than it used to be too, because of the breadth of their services. Theoretically, one person on YouTube that flags you could cause you to have a useless (or almost useless...minus your data/config) phone, thermostat, Google Home device, etc. Or, you could lose access to, say, your Google Analytics or Adwords account.
- tajen 8y ago
  or Gmail. From there, control on any online account you have. Gmail used to be the argument to log in to their services. Now, if you use Gmail, it’s probably better to dodge the other services, by fear of losing Gmail.
TAForObvReasons 8y ago
To clarify, are you saying that a youtube flag risks the gmail account with the same username OR that a youtube flag risks all gmail accounts that I control?
- ysleepy 8y ago
  AFAIK all accounts that are connected via backup email addresses or similar.
  - milesvp 8y ago
    It's potentially worse than this. I've heard rumor that accounts that they suspect to be linked can get included in the dragnet. So even if you are super careful and use a separate google account for youtube with no reference to your personal email account, can get both accounts suspended for unwarrented "copyright violation". I don't know how much of this is FUD spread by people who don't know any better. But given how much data google collects, I wouldn't bet against it being possible.
    - vezycash 8y ago
      >I've heard rumor that accounts that they suspect to be linked can get included in the dragnet. Some people violated Big G's TOS by buying pixels to resell. All their related accounts were closed. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-suspends-customer-accounts-for-reselling-pixel-phones https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-su...
- bigiain 8y ago
  Here's a guy, who admittedly was doing something really dumb, but managed to get his entire company's email accounts suspended: https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/8kvias/tifu_by_getting_google_to_ban_our_entire_company/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/8kvias/tifu_by_gettin... So someone does something stupid using a work GSuite email account, gets not just the entire company email suspended, but also any staff member's personal gmail accounts that were linked for password recovery for their work email accounts.
  - kelnos 8y ago
    A follow-up post (https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/8l231x/google_banned_an_entire_company_gsuite_accounts/dzf8cuq/ https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/8l231x/google_banne...) seems to indicate that the post you've linked to is most likely a fake TIFU story.
    - bigiain 8y ago
      Yeah well, reddit, huh? On the other hand, that fact that it's not a story that is obviously dismissed as fake says volumes about many many people's shared experience with Google...
      - MrEldritch 8y ago
        "Well, sure, it's fake, but the fact that I believed it sure says something anyway..." is the worst argument.
        bigiain 8y ago
        It is, but it still has some meaning. There are some people who if you hear stories of them doing bad things you'll immediately say "Nope. Clearly not true. That's just not how that person behaves." Google _used_ to be one of those. At least in my head (and from the front page of HN this week, it seems for a lot of other people as well).
        Dylan16807 8y ago
- jcrei 8y ago
  I lost access to ALL my Google products for half a day for a youtube flag. I regained access to photos / drive / gmail in a matter of hours (that I spent in panic). But it took me over a year and a half to regain access to my youtube account.

tyingq 8y ago

Right. It's worse than it used to be too, because of the breadth of their services. Theoretically, one person on YouTube that flags you could cause you to have a useless (or almost useless...minus your data/config) phone, thermostat, Google Home device, etc. Or, you could lose access to, say, your Google Analytics or Adwords account.

tajen 8y ago
or Gmail. From there, control on any online account you have. Gmail used to be the argument to log in to their services. Now, if you use Gmail, it’s probably better to dodge the other services, by fear of losing Gmail.

TAForObvReasons 8y ago

To clarify, are you saying that a youtube flag risks the gmail account with the same username OR that a youtube flag risks all gmail accounts that I control?

ysleepy 8y ago
AFAIK all accounts that are connected via backup email addresses or similar.
- milesvp 8y ago
  It's potentially worse than this. I've heard rumor that accounts that they suspect to be linked can get included in the dragnet. So even if you are super careful and use a separate google account for youtube with no reference to your personal email account, can get both accounts suspended for unwarrented "copyright violation". I don't know how much of this is FUD spread by people who don't know any better. But given how much data google collects, I wouldn't bet against it being possible.
  - vezycash 8y ago
    >I've heard rumor that accounts that they suspect to be linked can get included in the dragnet. Some people violated Big G's TOS by buying pixels to resell. All their related accounts were closed. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-suspends-customer-accounts-for-reselling-pixel-phones https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-su...
bigiain 8y ago
Here's a guy, who admittedly was doing something really dumb, but managed to get his entire company's email accounts suspended: https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/8kvias/tifu_by_getting_google_to_ban_our_entire_company/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/comments/8kvias/tifu_by_gettin... So someone does something stupid using a work GSuite email account, gets not just the entire company email suspended, but also any staff member's personal gmail accounts that were linked for password recovery for their work email accounts.
- kelnos 8y ago
  A follow-up post (https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/8l231x/google_banned_an_entire_company_gsuite_accounts/dzf8cuq/ https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/8l231x/google_banne...) seems to indicate that the post you've linked to is most likely a fake TIFU story.
  - bigiain 8y ago
    Yeah well, reddit, huh? On the other hand, that fact that it's not a story that is obviously dismissed as fake says volumes about many many people's shared experience with Google...
    - MrEldritch 8y ago
      "Well, sure, it's fake, but the fact that I believed it sure says something anyway..." is the worst argument.
      - bigiain 8y ago
        It is, but it still has some meaning. There are some people who if you hear stories of them doing bad things you'll immediately say "Nope. Clearly not true. That's just not how that person behaves." Google _used_ to be one of those. At least in my head (and from the front page of HN this week, it seems for a lot of other people as well).
      - Dylan16807 8y ago
jcrei 8y ago
I lost access to ALL my Google products for half a day for a youtube flag. I regained access to photos / drive / gmail in a matter of hours (that I spent in panic). But it took me over a year and a half to regain access to my youtube account.