Google has announced new terms of use for its proprietary cloud storage Google Drive, under which the search giant will soon begin restricting access to files it believes violate company policies. According to the blog, Google will soon start active actions to detect such files.
Files that violate the search giant's policy will be flagged for their owner and automatically restricted. This means that the user can no longer transfer it to other users. Access to them will be closed to everyone except the host. Google says this change will help ensure that file owners know the status of their files and protect users from offensive content.
According to Google, the reason for the policy change is to protect against abuse of its services. The search giant classified the files as: unacceptable content from cybercriminals, such as malware, sexually explicit documents and files that may be harmful to children.
Google says that as soon as it is notified of a potential policy violation, the company's experts will examine the content and take measures such as restricting access, deleting the file or completely terminating the user's access to the search giant's products.
Experts fear that the innovation could harm users by making their files unavailable for no good reason, as Google has not clearly described the criteria for detecting unacceptable content. Fortunately, the search giant has provided a verification system for Google Drive users who believe their files have been illegally restricted.
Google Drive will soon start blocking files that violate the service's rules
"This will help ensure that owners of Google Drive items are fully informed about the status of their content, and also help protect users from offensive content," the company explained.
"We need to stop abuses that threaten our ability to provide these services, and we ask everyone to follow [our policies] to help us achieve that goal," Google said in its policy document.
"After we are notified of a potential policy violation, we may review the content and take action, including restricting access to the content, removing the content, and limiting or terminating a user's access to Google products."
"Google Drive is constantly working to protect the safety of our users and the community, always respecting privacy. Just as Gmail has long protected users from phishing and malware attacks, providing the same protection for Google Drive is critical to ensuring that Drive is as safe as possible for all users.”
