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Comment by Wolfbeta | Hacker News Reader

What rights do you have in this case?

> Google Drive allows you to upload, submit, store, send and receive content. As described in the Google Terms of Service, your content remains yours. We do not claim ownership in any of your content, including any text, data, information, and files that you upload, share, or store in your Drive account. The Google Terms of Service give Google a limited purpose license to operate and improve the Google Drive services — so if you decide to share a document with someone, or want to open it on a different device, we can provide that functionality.

From their terms of service, they deleted YOUR data. Thus the rights you'd have when anyone destroys your stuff apply. Hmmm, might even be criminal... I'm not a lawyer though, so I don't know shit.

If Google can delete it, it's not really *your* data is it?

https://blog.google/products/photos/storage-policy-update/

They say expressly when it will be removed in the ToS, if it doesn't meet any of those conditions, then they, contractually, cannot delete it.

But saying that "because they can, they can" is silly. I "can" (as in able to) break into your house and steal your shit. By that logic, if I can do it, it wasn't trespassing or theft.

But saying that "because they can, they can" is silly.

They can because user's agreed to their terms of service --- and by so doing so, relinquished some of their ownership rights.

Did you read them, because it very clearly states in the drive addendum that users DO NOT give up any ownership rights.

https://www.google.com/drive/terms-of-service/archived/

   The total liability of Google, and its suppliers and distributors, for any 
   claims under these terms, including for any implied warranties, is limited to 
   the amount you paid us to use the services (or, if the subject of the claim 
   is the free service, to supplying you the services again).

In other words, they can delete *your* data any time they want and claim it was an accident. If you don't like it, you can sue for your money back. If you're using the free tier, you can expect $0.

You can't sign away your rights, no matter what a contract says, in some places, tort still applies.

Like I said, I'm not a lawyer, but just because there is a limit on liability, does not mean there is a limit on damages and tort.

a limit on liability, does not mean there is a limit on damages and tort.

This is exactly what Google intends it to mean. Good luck convincing a judge otherwise.

In some places, the fact there is no signed contract and no exchange took place (free tier) means there is no liability --- the user received everything they paid for.

If I ask you to hold my phone and say “don’t blame me if it breaks” and we agree. Then you deliberately smash my phone, you caused me a damage and broke the terms of the contract. In this imaginary case, there was an implied agreement that you would hold the phone, but you didn’t. You smashed it. You aren’t protected from your liability agreement because it no longer applies.

This same thing applies here. Intellectual property has value. Google agreed to hold that value and not delete it. They stopped holding the property and smashed it. Their liability clause no longer works because they broke the contract. It doesn’t matter if money changed hands or not. Damage is damage.

I’m not a lawyer, I don’t know shit.

Almost every program you run can delete your data. Does that make it not your data?

Quick rule of thumb --- it's not really your data if the only backup is someone else's hands.

This needs some elaboration.

Scenario A: I take a photo. There is no backup. Is this my data?

Scenario B: I have multiple independent backups of a document. Google deletes the main copy off my computer against my will. Is that "not my data" because Google deleted it? Does the deletion not count because I have a backup? Third option?

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