Beehaw
  • Communities
  • Create Post
  • search
    Search
  • Login
  • Sign Up
kworpy ( kworpy@lemm.ee )  to Privacy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 3 years ago

Google is now moderating user's bookmarks and removing them.

lemm.ee

external-link
message-square
44
link
fedilink
218
external-link

Google is now moderating user's bookmarks and removing them.

lemm.ee

kworpy ( kworpy@lemm.ee )  to Privacy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 3 years ago
message-square
44
link
fedilink
alert-triangle
You must log in or # to comment.
  • Chozo ( Chozo@kbin.social ) 
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    203
    ·
    edit-2
    3 years ago

    This is misleading. Not sure if by ignorance or malice, but it’s very misleading.

    This isn’t happening with your browser bookmarks. This is Google Collections, which is a shareable bookmarking feature, meaning it can be made publicly available. That’s why it’s moderated. It’s basically Google’s version on something like Pinterest.

    https://www.androidpolice.com/create-google-collections/

    • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      3 years ago

      Even so - it’s not an excuse meddle with it, whatever you call it. Fuck Google.

      • Lexi Sneptaur ( Sneptaur@pawb.social ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        60
        ·
        3 years ago

        You should be mad about the things google does. I don’t think this particular thing is unreasonable though.

        • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          3 years ago

          Why not?

          • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            36
            ·
            3 years ago

            They have a duty to moderate public-facing systems. This is a link/bookmark sharing system, so obviously bookmarks that are pointing to things that are illegal are going to be dealt with.

            • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              3 years ago
              • OP claimed it’s his private bookmarks not facing public

              • the site doesn’t contain any illegal content. It’s just google being overzealous and intrusive

              • Google Keep Notes has a sharing note feature. You think it would ok for them to sniff what you noting and delete it if they didn’t like it?

              • one again - there’s nothing illegal on that website, nor is accessing it or sharing it’s address

              • Chozo ( Chozo@kbin.social ) 
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                17
                ·
                3 years ago

                OP claimed it’s his private bookmarks not facing public

                OP is mistaken. Read the email in the screenshot.

              • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                3 years ago

                Let’s try reading the articles before discussing them, next time.

            • LoafyLemon ( LoafyLemon@kbin.social ) 
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              3 years ago

              They don’t have to, they choose to. You can share bookmarks on Firefox, but Mozilla doesn’t filter nor censor them Orwellian style.

              • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                7
                ·
                3 years ago

                I’m pretty sure there are reasonable expectations by governments that you maintain adequate moderation, especially the EU. If Mozilla were to deploy a public facing system and not moderate it, they would catch hell from the EU and likely be fined out the ass.

              • bermuda ( bermuda@beehaw.org ) 
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                6
                ·
                3 years ago

                Orwellian is when company does thing I don’t like

                • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  No, that’s when they’re fascists

                • LoafyLemon ( LoafyLemon@kbin.social ) 
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  No, it’s when the company attempts to assume the role of a governing body and delves into the privacy of people’s bedrooms.

          • darcmage ( darcmage@lemm.ee ) 
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            15
            ·
            3 years ago

            If you’re going to store something on someone else’s computer (Google cloud), they have every right to control what is and is not allowed on their systems. Don’t like it? Use encryption, selfhost, etc…

            • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 years ago

              I would love to hear that from Google’s spokesperson.

              • sadreality ( sadreality@kbin.social ) 
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                3 years ago

                This person fucks.

                Chad comment although I agree with other person that this is not the worst of Google’s crimes.

      • hh93 ( hh93@lemm.ee ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        3 years ago

        So if you have a collection with political targets and the folder is just google maps links to their houses with their names as the bookmark name google shouldn’t be allowed to stop you from spreading this?

        Sure google is shitty but this feature is designed to share links with other people and sometimes those links can be dangerous so imho it’s absolutely necessary to moderate them at some level.

        • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          3 years ago

          Depends if it’s illegal or not. In your case it’s probably illegal.

          • hh93 ( hh93@lemm.ee ) 
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            3 years ago

            In that case they deleted a link to illegal content in their jurisdiction - so should be fine - shouldn’t it?

    • JokeDeity ( JokeDeity@lemm.ee ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      3 years ago

      IMO defending Google is the underhanded move.

      • Otter ( otter@lemmy.ca ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        43
        ·
        3 years ago

        Sharing misleading info means people are less likely to believe you on real issues.

        Firefox IS better, Chrome’s meddling IS a problem. We don’t need to make stuff up in favor of that, and clarifying the point isn’t “defending Google”

        • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          19
          ·
          3 years ago

          Every single comment chain on this thread besides this chain are 100% wrong and operating on misleading information. I fucking hate how up in arms people get when they don’t even have the full picture - even the basics, like having read the fucking article.

      • Chozo ( Chozo@kbin.social ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        23
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        DAE GOOGLE BAD???

        I don’t give a fuck if you like Google or not, but spreading misleading FUD is the real underhanded move.

        There are plenty of valid reasons to be critical of Google. This ain’t one.

      • Zorque ( Zorque@kbin.social ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        3 years ago

        IMO targeting someone you don’t like with antipathy regardless of their actions is a sociopathic move.

  • sabreW4K3 ( sabreW4K3@lemmy.tf ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    3 years ago

    All the more reason to switch to Firefox

    • Otter ( otter@lemmy.ca ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yep I use Firefox for everything, but I keep chrome installed as a backup when needed.

      The most common reason for opening chrome is for Google related things. Certain google docs features like the add-ons store only worked in Chrome, but the add-ons themselves work anywhere. Or signing into Google Drive desktop app failed when the auth window opened in Firefox or Edge, but it worked in Chrome.

      I just thought that was Chrome breaking things in other browsers intentionally, since no other services had that kind of issue.

    • Franzia ( Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yeah Ive not heard of Pocket getting meddled with yet

  • AnonTwo ( AnonTwo@kbin.social ) 
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    3 years ago

    There was a post on this yesterday.

    They are moderating something, the issue with the article was it’s not user’s bookmarks. It’s some app-specific feature called collections.

    edit: it’s the same post…it’s a bit weird linking a direct link to a lemee.ee post when they get federated here anyway…

    • smoothbrain coldtakes ( canis_majoris@lemmy.ca ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 years ago

      That’s something I hate about the fediverse is that we have so many layers of links that you never get the original article, you get seven recursive links to other federated sites and maybe if you’re lucky on the last link you find the original article.

  • ram ( ram@lemmy.ca ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    3 years ago

    What the actual hell? I hate this so much. Google won’t touch right-wing extremist content, yet they’ll just poof your bookmarks? Bullshit.

    • Facebones ( Facebones@reddthat.com ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      3 years ago

      Well right wing extremists support their right to consume and subjugate the entire web into their jurisdiction, so… No real surprise they back the fascists and their openly violent goals and rhetoric.

      For fun though put some content on there about using violence to defend against their violence and see how quick you get moderated into oblivion 😂

  • Platform27 ( Platform27@lemmy.ml ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    3 years ago

    Honestly, I’m not surprised. Not just because of their lack of privacy (them knowing your bookmarks), but also legally. Some countries are trying to crack down on piracy, and other illegal material, asking companies (like Google) to do this.

    Bottom line, don’t use Chrome, and Google Sync.

    • Chozo ( Chozo@kbin.social ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 years ago

      This doesn’t involve your browser bookmarks. Google Collections is a link sharing tool.

    • Rhaedas ( Rhaedas@kbin.social ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 years ago

      It doesn’t feel legal. A bookmark is textual data you’ve stored on your computer for later reference, and while it is on their application, somehow this feels wrong. It’s definitely wrong ethically, but is there something in the user agreement that says they have full reign of whatever the browser can touch?

      • Platform27 ( Platform27@lemmy.ml ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 years ago

        Pretty much everything you do on Chrome gets sent to Google. It is one of, if not the worst browsers, for privacy. Their Privacy Policy is pretty clear on this. It’s all for a better “user experience”.

      • Franzia ( Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 years ago

        There’s a comment above explaining that this isn’t quite the same as bookmarks

  • rzlatic ( rzlatic@lemmy.ml ) 
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    3 years ago

    laughing in firefoxian.

  • jet ( jet@hackertalks.com ) Banned
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Removed by mod

  • Blizzard ( Blizzard@lemmy.zip ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    3 years ago

    It’s like big tech corporations have been having a tournament called ‘Who’s Most Fucked Up’ Cup for past few years, we’re getting into the finals lately and Google and Microsoft are favourites for the golden medal.

  • umami_wasabi ( umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ) 
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    3 years ago

    I wonder how they did it. The sync data is supposed to be protected by E2EE where the key is derived from the user password or an separate sync password, at least before I abandon Chrome and go FF few years ago.

    • Platform27 ( Platform27@lemmy.ml ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 years ago

      Last I looked, Chrome’s sync is not E2EE. Next to nothing (user space) is E2EE, in Google’s ecosystem. By default it’s only Encryption in Transit. I think you can enable a Passphrase (encryption on device), but that’s optional.

      • umami_wasabi ( umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 years ago

        Idk then. I had a separate sync password which will not sync anything after logged on in Chrome until I gave that password.

    • ChaoticNeutralCzech ( ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de ) 
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 years ago

      Encrypted between… Chrome and Chrome? Two installations of Google’s non-FOSS browser? You never really had control over that data.

      • umami_wasabi ( umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ) 
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 years ago

        At least what they claim to be back then.

  • Written2323 ( Written2323@lemmy.ml ) 
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    3 years ago

    Not bookmarks. Google collection

Privacy@lemmy.ml

privacy@lemmy.ml

Subscribe from Remote Instance

Create a post
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !privacy@lemmy.ml

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

  • Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn’t great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
  • Don’t promote proprietary software
  • Try to keep things on topic
  • If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
  • Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
  • Be nice :)

Related communities

  • Lemmy.ml libre_culture
  • Lemmy.ml privatelife
  • Lemmy.ml DeGoogle
  • Lemmy.ca privacy

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

Visibility: Public
globe

This community can be federated to other instances and be posted/commented in by their users.

  • 124 users / day
  • 551 users / week
  • 2.6K users / month
  • 6.66K users / 6 months
  • 852 local subscribers
  • 51.3K subscribers
  • 4.56K Posts
  • 59.3K Comments
  • Modlog
  • mods:
  • k_o_t ( k_o_t@lemmy.ml ) 
  • tmpod ( tmpod@lemmy.pt ) 
  • Yayannick ( Yayannick@lemmy.ml ) 
  • ranok ( ranok@sopuli.xyz ) 
  • BE: 0.19.15
  • Modlog
  • Legal
  • Instances
  • Docs
  • Code