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Google SHOULD NOT promise anything else. This is critical for users security. Yes, developers and business claim they make user data, privacy and security a to

Google SHOULD NOT promise anything else. This is critical for users security. Yes, developers and business claim they make user data, privacy and security a top priority. As we have seen from plenty of developers on the facebook platform, if not checked, they far to often lie, betray users trust or are just totally incompetent. At least on the business side, giving restricted scopes access (ie, enabling a third party server to read all emails in a domain) is a major permission. It needs to be treated like this. In many cases a problem here unlocks a LOT more because email is used the default password for everything (via password reset options and more). I hope google holds a firm line here and doesn't bow to hacker news type social media pressures - we have too much evidence of bad and poor behavior by developers to just trust them.

userbinator 4y ago
Google is also one to "betray users trust"!
ForHackernews 4y ago
Yeah, imagine if users didn't have benevolent Google protecting them, some unscrupulous company full of unethical developers might scan all their personal email, or monitor what websites they visit, or even collect biometric data and then track their every waking movement in the real world.
- onphonenow 4y ago
  Let me repeat this very clearly here. HN folks seem to think that developers in the internet at large are "good" and google is evil. Or that things like google asking random developers from china to go through a security assessment is appalling. I can tell you that for businesses and others spending money (ie, where the business is the customer and not the product) the perspective is opposite this. A business wants google to track users so logins from unusual locations / devices go through more rigorous authentication. That is considered a benefit, not a harm. A business wants google to scan everyone's email - for everything from phising to spam to malware. This is considered a benefit not a harm. I think folks here underestimate just how trusted and core to many individuals and businesses google is. Many folks trust google MORE than they do their own goverment, including on issues of spying on emails and more. The goverment leaks everything - from photos of dead celebrities to tax returns. Many goverment are active in spying on their users as much as they are able. Around the world, brands like Apple and Google considered evil here on HN, have just insane brand value. Again, Google are idiots if they were to go the facebook route and not keep the private info they hold pretty secured. The downsides are SO much larger for them (see Cambridge Analytics) than the upsides of allowing random third party internet developers to access someone's email on an ongoing and programmatic way without these types of controls.
  - ForHackernews 4y ago
    Yes, obviously business are happy to fob off liability to Google (right up until Big G closes their account and kills their business). What's your point? That businesses don't have users' interests at heart? Next you'll tell us the tooth fairy isn't real. The point isn't that Google is evil and random devs are good. The point is that Google is amoral and harmful - and also enormous and powerful. Random small developers may be good, bad, whatever, but they are diverse and individually powerless. Should you be more afraid of the Stasi or of a neighborhood burglar?

userbinator 4y ago

Google is also one to "betray users trust"!

ForHackernews 4y ago

Yeah, imagine if users didn't have benevolent Google protecting them, some unscrupulous company full of unethical developers might scan all their personal email, or monitor what websites they visit, or even collect biometric data and then track their every waking movement in the real world.

onphonenow 4y ago
Let me repeat this very clearly here. HN folks seem to think that developers in the internet at large are "good" and google is evil. Or that things like google asking random developers from china to go through a security assessment is appalling. I can tell you that for businesses and others spending money (ie, where the business is the customer and not the product) the perspective is opposite this. A business wants google to track users so logins from unusual locations / devices go through more rigorous authentication. That is considered a benefit, not a harm. A business wants google to scan everyone's email - for everything from phising to spam to malware. This is considered a benefit not a harm. I think folks here underestimate just how trusted and core to many individuals and businesses google is. Many folks trust google MORE than they do their own goverment, including on issues of spying on emails and more. The goverment leaks everything - from photos of dead celebrities to tax returns. Many goverment are active in spying on their users as much as they are able. Around the world, brands like Apple and Google considered evil here on HN, have just insane brand value. Again, Google are idiots if they were to go the facebook route and not keep the private info they hold pretty secured. The downsides are SO much larger for them (see Cambridge Analytics) than the upsides of allowing random third party internet developers to access someone's email on an ongoing and programmatic way without these types of controls.
- ForHackernews 4y ago
  Yes, obviously business are happy to fob off liability to Google (right up until Big G closes their account and kills their business). What's your point? That businesses don't have users' interests at heart? Next you'll tell us the tooth fairy isn't real. The point isn't that Google is evil and random devs are good. The point is that Google is amoral and harmful - and also enormous and powerful. Random small developers may be good, bad, whatever, but they are diverse and individually powerless. Should you be more afraid of the Stasi or of a neighborhood burglar?