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And the popup message is one Google is required by law to make available to its employees.

by ninly 7y ago

BoorishBears 7y ago
Wait a second, are you saying the browser popup when you visit that specific page is required by law... ... or are you saying the content of the message in the popup is one Google has to make available in some form. Because I'm fairly certain it's the latter, but this feels like an attempt to obfuscate the real issue with tricky language.
- CharlesColeman 7y ago
  IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden. I think the employee has a point with the pop-up. Wall posters aren't a good way to reach technology workers. Some kind of digital notification like a pop-up or regular reminder email would be more sensible. Remote employees can't see a poster at the office, for instance.
  - BoorishBears 7y ago
    The idea of the popup isn't the issue I have with this. It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from. It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. Sure the notice is required, but putting it so it shows up solely on the website for the legal firm hired by your employer is a political message before it is a helpful message.
    - CharlesColeman 7y ago
      > It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from. No one's saying it "passed PR", it passed the review process that was in place for similar changes. > IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden. > It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. A lot of this thread feels like unusual sudden concern for the aesthetics of the cafeteria wall.
      - BoorishBears 7y ago
        You mean it passed the review process in place for "changing a few lines of code"? Like a PR? And I don't even get what the second half of your comment is trying to say, especially the cafeteria wall comment... Putting an unannounced popup when you visit the page for a legal firm would not fulfill the requirement either, so what is your point?
    - boomlinde 7y ago
      > It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. You should probably not work at Google.
      - BoorishBears 7y ago
        I know, was that supposed to be a revelation? I work at a place full of xooglers and other ex-faangs, and get the benefits of working with talented people without these kinds of scandals.
        boomlinde 7y ago
        > I know, was that supposed to be a revelation? No, more to point out that it's a weird concern to have about an internal tool used by a company that uses their code to exert huge, global political influence. It's a strangely specific grain of rice to make an issue of.
        BoorishBears 7y ago
        That is such a stretch I'd need a yogi to grasp it all. There are plenty of ways to protest that are just as effective as a pop up that only appears on a specific site for a specific lawyer that don't involve messing with work code.
dmix 7y ago
The purpose of the extension within Google is to notify you of privacy and security risks for potentially dangerous websites. The comment she injected into a benign law website has nothing to do with that and whether there was some weak approval process that missed this glaring fact doesn’t make it okay.
- givinguflac 7y ago
  “Benign law website”, “anti-union PR firm” tomato, potatoe.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - dmix 7y ago
    In the English languages words are understood in the context they are used. In this case it was obviously about security and privacy. So it's a nice attempt at spin but much like other attempts at defending this behaviour that's all it really is. A whole lot of spin to justify it via the ends while glossing over the completely unprofessional means.
    - givinguflac 7y ago
      It's literally an internal tool for google employees to popup informational or warning messages on a per-site basis. The ends was exactly what the freaking tool was built for.
macspoofing 7y ago
Legal compliance is handled by legal, HR, and OPs, not by random security engineers. Come on.

And the popup message is one Google is required by law to make available to its employees.

by ninly 7y ago

And the popup message is one Google is required by law to make available to its employees.

Wait a second, are you saying the browser popup when you visit that specific page is required by law... ... or are you saying the content of the message in the popup is one Google has to make available in some form. Because I'm fairly certain it's the latter, but this feels like an attempt to obfuscate the real issue with tricky language.

CharlesColeman 7y ago
IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden. I think the employee has a point with the pop-up. Wall posters aren't a good way to reach technology workers. Some kind of digital notification like a pop-up or regular reminder email would be more sensible. Remote employees can't see a poster at the office, for instance.
- BoorishBears 7y ago
  The idea of the popup isn't the issue I have with this. It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from. It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. Sure the notice is required, but putting it so it shows up solely on the website for the legal firm hired by your employer is a political message before it is a helpful message.
  - CharlesColeman 7y ago
    > It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from. No one's saying it "passed PR", it passed the review process that was in place for similar changes. > IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden. > It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. A lot of this thread feels like unusual sudden concern for the aesthetics of the cafeteria wall.
    - BoorishBears 7y ago
      You mean it passed the review process in place for "changing a few lines of code"? Like a PR? And I don't even get what the second half of your comment is trying to say, especially the cafeteria wall comment... Putting an unannounced popup when you visit the page for a legal firm would not fulfill the requirement either, so what is your point?
  - boomlinde 7y ago
    > It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work. You should probably not work at Google.
    - BoorishBears 7y ago
      I know, was that supposed to be a revelation? I work at a place full of xooglers and other ex-faangs, and get the benefits of working with talented people without these kinds of scandals.
      - boomlinde 7y ago
        > I know, was that supposed to be a revelation? No, more to point out that it's a weird concern to have about an internal tool used by a company that uses their code to exert huge, global political influence. It's a strangely specific grain of rice to make an issue of.
        BoorishBears 7y ago
        That is such a stretch I'd need a yogi to grasp it all. There are plenty of ways to protest that are just as effective as a pop up that only appears on a specific site for a specific lawyer that don't involve messing with work code.

dmix 7y ago

The purpose of the extension within Google is to notify you of privacy and security risks for potentially dangerous websites. The comment she injected into a benign law website has nothing to do with that and whether there was some weak approval process that missed this glaring fact doesn’t make it okay.

givinguflac 7y ago
“Benign law website”, “anti-union PR firm” tomato, potatoe.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- dmix 7y ago
  In the English languages words are understood in the context they are used. In this case it was obviously about security and privacy. So it's a nice attempt at spin but much like other attempts at defending this behaviour that's all it really is. A whole lot of spin to justify it via the ends while glossing over the completely unprofessional means.
  - givinguflac 7y ago
    It's literally an internal tool for google employees to popup informational or warning messages on a per-site basis. The ends was exactly what the freaking tool was built for.

macspoofing 7y ago

Legal compliance is handled by legal, HR, and OPs, not by random security engineers. Come on.