NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Using Google to Harass -- and the Continuing Google Customer Support Gap
Using Google to Harass -- and the Continuing Google Customer Support Gap
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000811.html
Greetings. This particular story is not the most egregious case of a
Google-related problem I've seen, nor am I mentioning it simply
because it is now getting a great deal of publicity. But it is a good
example of a class of Google-related issues that arrive at my inbox
virtually ever single day.
Today we have an upset girlfriend who ultimately leveraged Google
Images to post copies of her ex-boyfriend's (apparently copyrighted)
professional headshot image, emblazoned with an array of harassing and
embarrassing labels.
This may sound a bit humorous -- and some of the press have been sort
of playing it that way, but cases of purposely using Google Search
results to slander and harass, sometimes in ways that could be
*extremely* dangerous, even potentially life threatening, are much
more common than you might imagine -- people contact me routinely with
such stories begging for help getting such results removed.
In the current case of the revengeful girlfriend
( http://bit.ly/g4g4Ag [Search Engine Roundtable] ), we see a typical
failed attempt to deal with the situation directly with Google:
"My minor son's ex-girlfriend took a copyrighted picture of him (we
own copyright) and uploaded it more than 60 times to a website. On
each image she wrote slanderous, defamatory and pornographic captions.
The webmaster of the site states he removed the images 6 weeks ago,
but Google Search still shows all the images. My son is so stressed
out and embarrassed and we've done everything we can to get images off
of Google including URL removal tool, a letter to Google Legal with
all the URLs because of copyright infringement, and nothing has
worked!"
The point here right now isn't whether or not it is actually Google's
responsibility to remove indexed, cached, or otherwise displayed links
or images based at other sites. That's a complex area without simple
solutions (and if anyone tries to claim that this is a simple matter,
they are either misleading you or ignorant regarding the subject).
But the inability of persons with issues like these to even receive a
usefully substantive *response* in any manner from Google is
itself extremely routine, and a matter of continuing concern.
One might ask, why do people come to *me* with these issues?
Regular readers can guess, and a Google Search these days for:
google ombudsman
will quickly reveal the reason -- my "Google Ombudsman" essays. Folks
with Google-related issues start searching around for *someone*
to ask about these problems, and -- yep -- they find my various
related postings ( http://bit.ly/d0Zp10 [Lauren's Blog] ).
It is distressing to receive pleading messages from people complaining
that they can't get Google to respond to them in any way, and begging
me for help. Sometimes I can point them to existing Web resources and
techniques that will be of use. Occasionally I can get them some help
through private channels. But most of the time I'm impotent to assist
in their situations. Not only does that do them no good at all, it
also frankly makes me feel awful.
As I've said many times before, I understand Google's concerns about
scaling when it comes to dealing with user concerns -- especially when
so many Google services are provided without charge. But Google is a
big, growing, successful firm, with some of the sharpest minds on the
planet within its fold. There are a variety of ways that an
appropriate Google Ombudsman or some other "problem resolution"
hierarchy -- with appropriate triaging and escalation of problems --
could be made to work effectively and economically. Other firms of
every possible size, scope, and type have managed to do this successfully.
I have enormous respect for Google as a firm, and in particular for
its people. But while the complexity of the issues is a given, it is
embarrassing that an organization with the skills and influence of
Google continues to avoid dealing with this area in an effective
manner.
Google, you've worked engineering miracles toward organizing the
world's information and making it universally accessible and useful --
as per your mission statement. The time is ripe for you to bite the
bullet and apply a fraction of that expertise toward dealing with your
continuing customer support chasm.
Do this properly, and you'll be an even greater company as a result.
That fact at least, is really very simple.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz
Quora: http://www.quora.com/Lauren-Weinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com