Google accuses two dads of child pornography, for taking naked photos of their child for the pediatrician
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Google’s automated tool that detects sensitive content can sometimes be wrong, but the accounts themselves remain blocked and deleted.
Stupor for Mark*, an American citizen, when he receives a notification from Google. “It appears that this account has been used in a way that seriously violates Google’s policies». The reason for this decision? A gesture that seemed insignificant to him. The case, which has just been made public, dates back to February 2021. Mark notices that his toddler’s penis is swollen and he seems to be in pain. First reflex: photograph the anomaly with your smartphone to monitor its evolution. His wife makes an emergency appointment with the doctor by teleconsultation for the next morning. The nurse asks her to send the photos of her child so that the doctor can observe the problem upstream. The harmless story could have ended there. It was not counting the services of Google.
Following this, Mark loses access to his Google account and associated services. The contacts, e-mail, photos and files he has accumulated on the cloud for a decade are no longer accessible to him. The algorithmic tools developed by Google to capture, among other things, the exchange of child pornography images, intercepted the photos of Mark’s son. “I know that companies like Google are watching us and our privacy is not as we would like“says the father, according to the New York Times. “But I did nothing wrong“.
“Google misjudged my case, Google is ruining my life»
Despite his requests to Google to restore his account, the tech giant refused, without further explanation. Worse, the dad subscribed to the mobile offer of Google Fi, a virtual mobile network. He therefore no longer has access to his telephone number or his mailbox, he can no longer retrieve the security codes necessary to access other internet accounts. He is stuck and his account is now permanently deleted. He learns ten months after this story that a police investigation, closed without follow-up, had been carried out against him.
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Mark is not the only one. Almost at the same time, Cassio*, Texas, was experiencing the same situation. He had spotted a lump on his son’s genitals and sent photos to his pediatrician. Google detects photos, deactivates the account and also does not accept to reassign to it. “Google misjudged my case, Google is ruining my life“, he said in a post on a forum where he explained his situation. The American says he does not understand this decision and has learned a few lessons: “Do not use automatic upload to Google Photos” Where “It’s impossible to talk with a human from Google“.
Many Internet users and journalists reacted to this story on Twitter.
According to the New York Times, juvenile lawyers say the cooperation of companies like Google is essential to combat the exchange and distribution of child pornography. In 2021, the tech giant collected 621,583 reports of pedophile documents. But access to private data without the user being aware of it can lead to the demonization of innocent behavior and raise moral and ethical questions.
* The dads did not want to reveal their surnames.
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