[mcagl]

I didn't know Google Cloud Print before, so I made some research on their site: https://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/

""" Using Google Cloud Print, you can make your home and work printers available to you and anyone you choose, from the applications you use every day. Google Cloud Print works on your phone, tablet, Chromebook, PC, and any other web-connected device you want to print from. """

Ok, so my printer is supposed to be registered to google cloud to make me print from anywhere. Ok. But my files?

https://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/howitworks.html

""" When you print through Google Cloud Print, your file is securely sent to your printer over the web. Because it’s the web, Google Cloud Print works whether you’re in the same room as your printer, or on another continent. It also doesn’t matter whether you’re on a phone, a traditional desktop, or anything in between (like a tablet). """

So if I'm in my room, on my laptop, at 3 meters from my ubersupercloudenabled printer, I can send my file to it via the web. Securely. Ok.

""" Documents are transferred over a secure HTTPS web connection. After a job is completed, the associated document is deleted from our servers. """

The file is sent via HTTPS. But the file itself...is it encrypted? (Maybe the printer generates a keypair upon registration, and the same does every devices, etc etc...?)

https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/2541843?hl=en&r...

""" Who can see what I’m printing?

Google Cloud Print jobs are submitted and retrieved over a secure connection (https), and are only available to you and the printer you’re using. """

""" Any document you send for printing is kept strictly confidential. Google does not access the documents you print for any purpose other than to improve printing. """

"to improve printing" may be the "metaphor" behind the functioning of Google Cloud Print itself. This can be read, after removing the double negations and the other usual tricks as "Google access the documents you print to give to you the comfort to print your files while staying 3 meters away from your printer, by passing them to the cloud and our automatic eyes and godknowswhat".

NO. THANKS BUT NO.

[jaclaz]

>So if I'm in my room, on my laptop, at 3 meters from my ubersupercloudenabled printer, I can send my file to it via the web. Securely. Ok.

Conversely, if you are NOT within a few meters of your printer, resetting the machine, managing paper jams, cartridge or toner replacement (i.e. solve the issues that invariably happen every single time you really need to print something, particularly if you are in a hurry) is tricky.

[mcagl]

Exactly. I don't know why this GCP seems so "irreplaceable" to people using it, given the implications of "sending your files to google just to print them".

I can do the same using a wifi/eth enabled printer and my router plus maybe using a firewall to block the printer to go out on the internet and to be called from outside.

[nucleardog]

> I can do the same using a wifi/eth enabled printer and my router plus maybe using a firewall to block the printer to go out on the internet and to be called from outside.

Gmail? I can do the same thing with a VPS, qmail, dspam, courier, and roundcube. Why does gmail even exist?

Congratulations - you're very smart. But you're not the target market.

[Spooky23]

Opsec matters. If you're printing tax returns or proprietary data with this without some sort of commercial contract, you have a problem.

For a student printing schoolwork, printing my concert tickets from a tablet or a hundred other use cases, yore fine.

[mcagl]

I can print schoolwork and concert tickets from my tablet already using my wifi LAN and my wifi/eth printer (with firewall rules that block traffic to/from the printer to/from the internet), without sending them to google.

I don't care which type of file I print, I simply want to print them privately. As it it's already possible without GCP, I don't catch why people use it.

[Spooky23]

Some people like to print things without being on a wifi network for various reasons. Or be able to print something on the go or when working outside.

Another use case are people who are living in a Google Docs world. It's easy to print "natively" out of that environment and not be aware of where you are from a network POV.

I agree with your POV btw, just pointing out where many people come from when they use this solution.

[deelowe]

This is the definition of FUD. I see claims like this all the time, but never find any substance. Does anyone have any data to demonstrate that statements such as "to improve printing" is intentionally misleading? Seriously, I'd love to know.