Comment by Spooky23
4 years ago
Google isn’t the government, they are a third party who you provide data to. 4th amendment doesn’t apply.
4 years ago
Google isn’t the government, they are a third party who you provide data to. 4th amendment doesn’t apply.
The argument was Google cannot be legally compelled to do so (hence the violation), but they are voluntarily doing so while some others do not.
I’d hazard to guess that the nuance is how they process data.
Google actively inspects and analyzes data, and does so with their cloud services. Microsoft does as well. They have a reasonable means to know that a user has problematic content. Other services that sync but don’t process data do not.
In many US states, you are legally compelled to report child abuse and are subject to criminal sanction. In New Jersey it’s a misdemeanor for anyone who fails to report child abuse. In New York, mandated reporters are compelled to report and have criminal and unlimited civil liability if they do not (and immunity from liability if they do).
For a company like Google or Microsoft, the risk assessment is very complex and the smart, and arguably the morally righteous move is to report.