Google Promises Unlimited Storage; Cancels; Tells Journalist Life's Work Deleted (techdirt.com)

Article summary

Google promised unlimited cloud storage to its enterprise customers, but has since cancelled the plan and is now threatening to delete a journalist's account, which contains 237.22 TB of video files, in seven days. The journalist, Tim Burke, had paid for the unlimited storage plan and was relying on it as a backup after the FBI seized his physical equipment. Google's decision has raised concerns about the reliability of cloud storage and the company's customer service. The journalist's data is at risk of being lost forever if it cannot be transferred to a new storage solution in time.

Main themes

• cloud storage reliability
• data backup and redundancy
• government overreach and corporate responsibility
• digital data value and preservation
• customer service and communication
• sustainable business models
• data durability and guarantees

What commenters say

• The cloud should not be relied upon as a primary or sole storage location, but rather as a backup.
• Google's business model of offering unlimited storage at a fixed cost is unsustainable and was bound to fail.
• The FBI's seizure of the journalist's equipment and Google's subsequent deletion of his account raise concerns about government overreach and corporate responsibility.
• Having multiple backups in different locations is essential to prevent data loss, but even this may not be enough if the government or corporations are involved.
• The value of digital data, such as photos, is subjective and some people may not consider it catastrophic to lose them.
• Cloud storage providers like Google, AWS, and Azure may not provide the durability guarantees that users expect, and users should be aware of the risks.
• The distinction between a backup and a copy is important, and simply having multiple copies of data in different locations may not be enough to ensure its safety.
• Google's customer service and communication with its users are inadequate, leading to situations like this where users are caught off guard by changes to their storage plans.