so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account.
Now imagine you've got all your e-mail/photos/contacts etc in that account and you've just permanently lost them due to that ToS breach.
Of course as technical people we can say "ahh you should have had off-cloud backups", but realistically most non-technical people won't do that and likely won't realise the consequences of their actions.
so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account."
Exactly. I recall the incident[1] where some Google Pixel phone customers were reselling their phones and making a tiny profit. Google permanently deleted hundreds of accounts and never restored them, for violating a mobile phone TOS. Ban them from the Fi mobile service, sure, but don't delete their entire digital lives! That's like getting a life sentence for shoplifting in the physical world.
All your eggs in one basket is never a good strategy, and though I wasn't personally affected by it, the Pixel Phone fiasco opened my eyes to just how much Google and Facebook controlled my own digital persona. I now use neither of their services.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-su...
When I worked in the Intelligence Community I had to go through multiple FBI investigations and polygraphs. Every single one of them asked me about laws I may have violated in the past. One of the agents even said (paraphrased, of course) "Maybe you downloaded some movies? It's illegal but many don't realize it and probably most people do it".
Pirating is one of those crimes that has become normalized. The parent may have realized it was illegal but didn't think much of it and probably didn't realize it would lead to his account being completely disabled.
The trouble with Google accounts and becoming disabled is it can very likely ruin a good part of your life because of how much of your data they hold and there are zero ways to redeem yourself if you did do something wrong and there are zero ways to resolve the problem if it was due to something inaccurate or false (which has happened especially if someone else gets into your account).
What's the correct answer?
If you told your interviewer that yes, you have downloaded some pirated movies, then if somebody calls you up saying "hey, i'll tell your boss you're a movie pirate if you don't tell me X" you'll feel confident shutting them down.
If anything, it makes an asset vulnerable to extortion _from_ the FBI.
See also "The FBI Is Struggling to Hire Hackers Who Don't Smoke Weed". [1]
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/262dde/the_fbi_is_str...
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_A...
If that is what actually happened then it invites regulatory action considering Google's unparalleled market share and reach.
You bought a Pixel phone, and Google thinks you might be a reseller? Then your account will be terminated, too.
And yes, there should be massive regulatory action, Google is doing so much stuff that should be fixed, it’s impossible to even list it all.
This guy has a for-life veto on a lot of the leading technologies, and cannot use a lot of product (in an every increasing list).
You violated the law and their (rather reasonable in this case) terms of service and are shocked to find they'd rather not do business with you?