For Mark*, a US citizen, when he receives a notification from Google. “It looks like this account has been used in a way that seriously violates Google’s policies». The reason for this decision. A gesture that seemed insignificant to him. The case, which has just been published, starts in February 2021. Mark notices that his little boy’s penis is swollen and he seems to be in pain. First reflex. photograph the anomaly with your smartphone to monitor its evolution. His wife makes an emergency teleconsultation appointment with the doctor the next morning. The nurse asks her to send the photos of her baby so that the doctor can track the problem upstream. The harmless story could have ended there. Not including Google services.
After that, Mark loses access to his Google account and related services. The contacts, e-mail, photos and files that he has accumulated on the cloud for a decade are no longer available to him. Algorithmic tools developed by Google to, among other things, share images of child pornography, caught the photos of Mark’s son. “I know that companies like Google are tracking us and our privacy is not what we would likesays the father, according to the New York Times. “But I didn’t do anything wrong“.
“Google got my case wrong, Google is ruining my life»
Despite his request to Google to reinstate his account, the tech giant refused without further explanation. To make matters worse, the father subscribed to the cellular offering of Google Fi, a virtual cellular network. Therefore, he no longer has access to his phone number or his mailbox, he can no longer retrieve the security codes needed to access other Internet accounts. He’s stuck and his account is now permanently deleted. Ten months after this story, he learns that a police investigation was conducted against him, which was closed without investigation.
Mark is not the only one. At about the same time, Cassio*, Texas, was experiencing the same situation. He noticed a tumor on his son’s genitals and sent photos to the pediatrician. Google detects photos, deactivates the account and also does not accept reassignment to it. “Google got my case wrong, Google is ruining my lifehe said in a forum post where he explained his situation. The American says that he does not understand this decision and has learned several lessons.Don’t use automatic upload to Google Photos“where”It’s impossible to speak to a human from Google“.
Many Internet users and journalists responded to this story on Twitter.
According to the New York Times, juvenile lawyers say the cooperation of companies like Google is essential to combating the sharing and distribution of child pornography. In 2021, the tech giant collected 621,583 reports of child abuse documents. But accessing personal data without the user’s knowledge can lead to the demonization of innocent behavior and raise moral and ethical questions.
* The fathers did not want to reveal their surnames.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.