This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Rob O'Leary
I got an email from Google today with the title "An update to your Google Account".
It said the following.
We associate your Google Account with a country (or region) so that we can better provide our services to you. This association is used to determine two things:
The Google company that provides the services, processes your information and is responsible for complying with applicable privacy lawsThe version of the Terms of Service that governs our relationship, which can vary depending on local laws.
Your country association will change within 30 days:
from Germany
to MalaysiaBear in mind that Google services are essentially the same, regardless of your country association. Also, any purchased content and banking information that you might have in your Google Account will remain the same.
The gist is Google wants to change the country associated with my account, presumably based on recently recorded IP addresses associated with my account.
What I find curious is that it says the services are essentially the same between different countries. So, there is no advantage to me as a consumer for anything to change.
It is creating a disadvantage for me because the privacy laws in Europe are stronger than Asia, is that a coincidence?
I don't want to be cynical, but it seems suspect to me. As someone who travels a lot (not recently!), this is unwanted behaviour regardless. Will they make this change every few months in the future if I move around?
Further in the email, it gives an indication of how you can prevent this change:
If the country associated with your account doesn’t match your country of residence... You can find more information about your country association, and a way to request a change if you think that it’s wrong, by reviewing the Google Terms of Service.
The Terms of Service say nothing at all about country association!
After some searching, I found how to make a Country Association Inquiry. It's just a short form where you pick your country and give a reason why this is a mistake.
This may seem like busy work but I think it's important to do what you can to protect your privacy. If we do nothing, Google and others will erode our rights online. International technicalities provide loop-holes for corporations to use our data as they see fit. If we don't pay attention and raise these kind of issues, then they might go unnoticed and may be considered bona-fide.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Rob O'Leary
Rob O'Leary | Sciencx (2021-05-01T08:58:48+00:00) An unwanted update to your Google Account. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/05/01/an-unwanted-update-to-your-google-account/
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