Google Drive users angry over losing months of stored data

[larry_vw_1955]

Google Drive users are reporting that recent files stored in the cloud have suddenly disappeared, with the cloud service reverting to a storage snapshot as it was around April-May 2023.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-drive-users-angry-over-losing-months-of-stored-data/

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why they say to keep a hard copy of your private keys. 

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[Foxpup]

Of course the media are going to make a big deal about this just because it's Google. I mean making a backup "only" every few months is nothing compared to Myspace accidentally destroying 12 years of content in a botched server migration. Remember that "the cloud" is just someone else's computer, with all that that implies. If you don't like how that someone manages their computer, including how frequently they make backups, consider buying and using a computer of your very own.

[larry_vw_1955]

Of course the media are going to make a big deal about this just because it's Google.

there has to be at least one person who was storing their seed phrases in google and lost them due to this little snafu. but i guess we can't be sure since i'm not sure how widespread this "bug" is.

I mean making a backup "only" every few months is nothing compared to Myspace accidentally destroying 12 years of content in a botched server migration.

Myspace? what is that? never heard of anyone using Myspace for cloud storage.

Remember that "the cloud" is just someone else's computer, with all that that implies. If you don't like how that someone manages their computer, including how frequently they make backups, consider buying and using a computer of your very own.

well and that's the thing though. these people probably gave a big thumbs up to google before they got jerked around. it's only once something bad happens that you have to reconsider the quality of the service.  

https://www.howtogeek.com/google-drive-is-mysteriously-losing-user-data/

This problem was first reported in a Google Support thread on November 21st. One person found that all the files synchronized to their Google Drive after May 2023 had mysteriously vanished. Oddly, the file structure of the user's Drive also reverted to May 2023, and their account shows no activity or files changes beyond that date.

Other people say that they've lost years of important data. There are several ways to recover Google Drive data, but the recovery process doesn't work in this specific situation. Lost files are not located in Google Drive's trash and cannot be synchronized from offline cache.

Funny thing is, I noticed Google Photos was blasting out a Cyber Monday sale. I bet those people that lost their data might feel a bit like they got put on the backburner seeing as how about they can do is post on a google help forum   and hope someone notices.

[jrrsparkles]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why they say to keep a hard copy of your private keys. 

You can never trust google with your privacy then storing private keys is No,No...

But commoners always Google Cloud storage for storing their documents and some even store their private photos which doesn't make any sense at all.

A little tip, instead of using Google cloud storage, you can make use of the telegram saved message which is literally gives you unlimited storage also they can be trusted better than google but storing private keys digitally strictly prohibited.

[batang_bitcoin]

This is why if you're going to store files and data that are important to you, just treat the cloud as another backup. By that means, another backup is that you've got other backups too that are not in the cloud. Like having an external HDD/SDD where you're going to store it there or even flashdisks/flashdrives. I've been using google drive/spreadsheets for some files of mine but I am fine if I'm going to lose them because it's known that even the best tech companies that manages the cloud can f up themselves sometimes.

[larry_vw_1955]

A little tip, instead of using Google cloud storage, you can make use of the telegram saved message which is literally gives you unlimited storage also they can be trusted better than google but storing private keys digitally strictly prohibited.

how can they afford to give unlimited storage though. sounds like something that would be RIPE for abuse. no way they are going to just let someone upload terabytes of data.

This is why if you're going to store files and data that are important to you, just treat the cloud as another backup. By that means, another backup is that you've got other backups too that are not in the cloud. Like having an external HDD/SDD where you're going to store it there or even flashdisks/flashdrives. I've been using google drive/spreadsheets for some files of mine but I am fine if I'm going to lose them because it's known that even the best tech companies that manages the cloud can f up themselves sometimes.

but you do realize someone at google could just open up your files and take a look at them. so hopefully no sensitive info is in there because they can take a peak if they need to. 

[franky1]

decades ago we used to call server held data, 'hosting' and access for users to upload their own files 'ftp'

the genesis and evolution and promise of "cloud" was to have data stored live in multiple locations to ensure data survival if one server failed

google however just revealed it mis-sold its FTP host as cloud for decades

[larry_vw_1955]

decades ago we used to call server held data, 'hosting' and access for users to upload their own files 'ftp'

the genesis and evolution and promise of "cloud" was to have data stored live in multiple locations to ensure data survival if one server failed

google however just revealed it mis-sold its FTP host as cloud for decades

i guess for many people they didn't pay anything though. they just wanted the free 15GB. but free users don't get any support. i think paid users might but i'm not sure. i heard some people couldn't login to their google account because it kept telling them their captcha was wrong even though they were solving it correctly. it just kept presenting them new captchas to solve. indefinitely.   imagine that, you can't get into your account but it's still there.

[btc78]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why they say to keep a hard copy of your private keys. 

i thought everyone already kept this private keys in a hard copy but now I realized some people truly wanna risk it and are hard-headed

not only can it disappear into nowhere, it can be very easy to access as well if someone gets a hold of your phone or worse your phone gets hacked

[larry_vw_1955]

i thought everyone already kept this private keys in a hard copy but now I realized some people truly wanna risk it and are hard-headed

some of these people lost way more than just private keys. they lost their months of personal data. that's really bad. private keys can be replaced. you just load up more bitcoin onto a new private key. but you can't replace family pictures or videos and things like that. or spreadsheets of rental properties and rents due. 

[boyptc]

some of these people lost way more than just private keys. they lost their months of personal data. that's really bad. private keys can be replaced. you just load up more bitcoin onto a new private key. but you can't replace family pictures or videos and things like that. or spreadsheets of rental properties and rents due. 

True.

Remember the old social media, Friendster? There have been lots of files as well there and family photos and videos that can no longer recover and it's the same to this.

And for those that likes to keep files on cloud storages, keep yourselves a back up on your personal local data storages or personal computers for your own convenience.

[larry_vw_1955]

Remember the old social media, Friendster? There have been lots of files as well there and family photos and videos that can no longer recover and it's the same to this.

yeah i remember Friendster but all I could find about their history is this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendster

In June 2011, Friendster shifted from social networking site to a social entertainment site with a focus on gaming and entertainment. Previous users' accounts are unchanged. However, all the photos, messages, comments, testimonials, shoutouts, blogs, forums and groups that the users may have had in the past may no longer be part of their Friendster account.[43] An exporting tool is provided to back up the information of the user account. This tool has the ability to export photos to Flickr and Multiply.

The deadline given to users to export their photos was extended to June 27, 2011. Photos which were not exported before the deadline were removed and are no longer retrievable.


not sure how long the deadline given was. but it sounds like it might have been a short one  I'm assuming that's what you were referring to by people losing their data. They didn't act fast enough so it was gone, deleted.

And for those that likes to keep files on cloud storages, keep yourselves a back up on your personal local data storages or personal computers for your own convenience.

for sure. there's really no excuse with multi TB SSDs these days. other than just laziness.   of course, when a 1 minute video from your phone uses an entire Gigabyte, you would need a 1000TB SSD most likely if you do alot of movie making...