Google flags Immich sites as dangerous (immich.app)

Article summary

The Immich team's websites were flagged as dangerous by Google's Safe Browsing service, causing issues for users and internal services. The team discovered that the flagging was due to their preview environments being detected as deceptive. They were able to resolve the issue through the Google Search Console, but the problem recurred when new preview environments were created. The team is now planning to move their preview environments to a dedicated domain to minimize the impact.

Main themes

• Google Safe Browsing
• False positives
• Self-hosted software
• Domain flagging
• Open-source projects
• Security and trust

What commenters say

• Google's flagging system can be overly broad and affect legitimate self-hosted websites and internal services.
• The lack of transparency in Google's flagging process makes it difficult for website owners to understand and resolve issues.
• Some commenters believe that Google's actions are an abuse of their monopoly power and can have significant consequences for website owners.
• Others suggest that the issue may be related to security design and the need for more nuanced permission systems.
• There are concerns about the potential for malicious actors to exploit the preview environment feature for phishing or other malicious activities.
• Some commenters argue that silently stripping GPS data from images without user consent is a reasonable security measure, while others see it as a problem that can cause issues for certain use cases.
• There is a need for more transparency and user control over permission systems and data handling.
• The concept of a 'cursed knowledge' document or file to share hard-earned knowledge and warnings about common pitfalls is seen as a useful idea.