UK Edition
Why Google is reading your Docs
Several users of Google's online word processing service, Google Docs, were surprised on Tuesday when their documents were blocked for violating its policies.
Users reported losing access to wedding vows and academic research, receiving messages saying that the documents had violated its terms of service. The problem was reported by dozens of people on Google's product forums.
While Google quickly restored them, blaming a botched update that mistakenly locked users out of the documents, the episode revealed what many people did not realise - Google is monitoring the ostensibly private files stored in Docs.
While the internet giant has been under pressure to better monitor the videos uploaded to YouTube, erase illegal content from its search results and better police its advertising network, few will be aware that Google Docs is being monitored. Docs is not only used by consumers but by thousands of businesses around the world, with files containing potentially sensitive information.
"This kind of monitoring is creepy," wrote Rachael Bale, a journalist at National Geographic. "I really think we need to consider how much we've all been just dumping in Google Docs," wrote Kelly O'Mara, a writer.
Although few people will read it, Google Drive's terms of service prohibit spam, violent or hate speech, pornography, the spread of confidential information and so on. They apply only to files that are shared, so those kept to yourself are presumably exempt.
A Google spokesman said that Docs and other files in Google Drive are policed by an algorithm that looks out for abuse of its policies, and automatically blocks files if they are deemed to violate them. Unlike some systems, which escalate a suspected issue to a moderator, there is no human review involved.
The spokesman said that the main reason its algorithm reads files is to prevent computer viruses or spam spreading. It is unclear if Google's algorithm is used to check for pornography or other abuse of its policies, or if the policy applies equally to work and personal accounts.
After several users were locked out of important documents, the company said: "We made a code push that incorrectly flagged a small percentage of Google Docs as abusive, which caused those documents to be automatically blocked.
"A fix is in place and all users should have full access to their docs. Protecting users from viruses, malware, and other abusive content is central to user safety. We apologise for the disruption and will put processes in place to prevent this from happening again."
While Google does charge corporate users for access to its "G Suite" of programs, Docs is provided to consumers for free, just like - Gmail, Maps and other services. The company's privacy policy states that it does "collect information" from Docs among other services, but it is unclear whether it uses it to target adverts.
Google has been under pressure to remove terrorist content from Google Drive after cracking down on it on YouTube. The service was mentioned in a recent speech by Baroness Shields about countering terrorism online.