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A comment on UC students suit claims Google scanned accounts without permission.

Re:UC students suit claims Google scanned accounts without p... by mark_l_watson on Sunday May 15, 2016 @05:31PM (#11702867)
I am a fan of Google (and I worked there as a contractor), so I don't intend to be negative, but:

I am happy to be a paying customer of Google; for example: Play Music, Youtube Red, Google Drive, etc.

I less happy with their making money from me indirectly via selling and using data associated with me. I would like to pay a yearly fee for search and gmail, in a privacy mode. I am surprised that this is not something that they do as an option.

I think that Microsoft has hit a sweet spot with a yearly fee for Office 365 (I don't think that Microsoft scans OneDrive files, etc. and makes money from that) and I would like Google to copy that business model.

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Re:UC students suit claims Google scanned accounts without p... by niels_olson on Sunday May 15, 2016 @05:42PM (#11702903)
> yearly fee for Office 365.

You can. You can subscribe to Google Apps. They don't advertise at you and scan your stuff only for the purpose of providing you search and related services. https://support.google.com/work/answer/6056650?hl=en

Apps for Work is $60/user; Apps Unlimited is $120/user. That compares quite favorably with Office 365, especially considering the Unlimited includes unlimited Drive.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:UC students suit claims Google scanned accounts without p... by mark_l_watson on Sunday May 15, 2016 @06:04PM (#11702987)
Thank you for that! Apps terms of service do seem to satisfy my concerns.
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Re:UC students suit claims Google scanned accounts without p... by ocdtrekkie on Sunday May 15, 2016 @09:52PM (#11703758)
The reason Google doesn't market such a thing to consumers, is because allowing a "privacy option" would convey that they're violating you're privacy on the free service.

And Google's entire business hinges on people not believing Google violates their privacy. So the possible gains in business isn't worth the loss of their reputation from admitting that.

[ Parent | on HN ]