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One time a few years back I searched google for the title of a thread on /r/boardgames about a board game called Ethnos. I was instantly unable to use any googl
by tanjtanjtanj 3y ago
One time a few years back I searched google for the title of a thread on /r/boardgames about a board game called Ethnos.
I was instantly unable to use any google services on either of my google accounts that were both signed in.
I signed out of my accounts to try again and I got 1 google search to go through before I started receiving the same cryptic message, using anonymous mode didn't help either. I switched over to my phone and I was blocked there as well.
I then logged into my work SSO that goes through a work domain google account and that worked for a few minutes before also getting blocked.
I couldn't find a way to contest or ask about the issue so I reached out to a contact at google who sent me a link where I found out that the issue wasn't made in error and will not be rescinded. My work account and all google services blocked forever!
Un/Fortunately it was a Friday before a week off of vacation for me and my access was restored a week later right before I returned to work.
I know it's a very much first world problem but that week of vacation was the most anxious I've ever felt in my life.
My contact told me that it was likely set off by their automatic "human trafficking" detection.
Every few months since then I'll wake up and get one of the same messages and I'll freak out for a little before it fixes itself an hour or so later. I don't like having my account tagged in this way.
- acheron 3y agoAnd yet you still use Google products? You sound like an abused spouse.
- tanjtanjtanj 3y agoFor work, the choice has been made for me.
- jonhohle 3y agoI have no idea what ethnos has to do with human trafficking, but could see searching for it to learn what it is. Having a single keyword disable all related accounts for a week could be devastating. I have so much account recovery that goes through Gmail that it would take months to unwind.
- theandrewbailey 3y agoI've been moving away from Google services since the Snowden leaks. I've seldom used Google search in the past 10 years, and switched my primary email provider away from Gmail. I'm experimenting with LineageOS instead of Android with Google Play. Sounds like you should do likewise.