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Google reveals major privacy shake-up, will auto-delete user data
According to a new blog post, Google will now automatically delete users’ search information, location data and voice commands after 18 months has elapsed since capture.
YouTube activity, meanwhile, will be kept on file for 36 months by default, which Google says will ensure viewers are served the most relevant content.
[...] The company’s auto-delete controls have been in place since last year, but will now be turned on by default for new users. Existing Google Account holders, though, will need to manually activate the auto-delete function from with the Activity Controls panel.
[...] The firm also took the opportunity to unveil a host of smaller changes designed to make it easier for users to access privacy controls and improve account security.
[...] Within the coming weeks, Google’s Password Checkup tool will also be integrated into the Security Checkup service, which notifies users of chinks in their security armor. The addition will allow account holders to check whether any of their login credentials have been compromised and safeguard against potential credential-stuffing attacks.
(Score: 2) by corey on Friday June 26 2020, @06:08AM (3 children)
I used to give Google the benefit of the doubt but that stopped when I discovered they don't allow encrypted archives (7z, etc) through their Gmail system. Apparently they need to virus check files, and they can't access them if they're encrypted. Pft.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday June 26 2020, @09:41AM (1 child)
What happens if you zip up your encrypted 7z archive inside a regular zip file?
Sure, it'd be an inconvenient workflow, but I wonder how many layers of obstruction they have...
(Score: 3, Informative) by looorg on Friday June 26 2020, @02:02PM
Not enough levels apparently. Since I did wonder to since I used to store encrypted archives on my gmail account as a sort of cheapo-backup I decided to test again now. Straight up encrypted archives is no dice, error and return to sender. But putting the encrypted archive inside a non-encrypted archive does not trigger the security alert. It just took a long fucking time to show up -- seven minutes from sending to appearing in the gmail-inbox, so they desperately must have tried to do something to it.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday June 26 2020, @01:50PM
Odd, when did they start with that? I previously used to store encrypted archives there as some kind of free-saftey-backup. But I have not done in awhile since I sort of moved away to other solutions. But I did check now if I could send one and as you noted you can't -- "This message was blocked because its content presents a potential security issue. Please visit ... https://support.google.com/mail/?p=BlockedMessage [google.com] to review our message content and attachment content guidelines."