[zepto]

‘Holding them to’ makes it sound like Google has some kind of moral authority here.

I understand the positive incentives for publishing when companies do not respond to flaws.

However Google has no particular right to police other companies.

If they disclose at 90 days, and harm ensues, there is no defense. Google is responsible.

[henryfjordan]

Google has the responsibility to inform users that the software they are using has known vulnerabilities as much as they have a responsibility to disclose them quietly to the software vendors that can fix them.

The way you laid things out, Google should just collect zero-days and sit on them? Do you see the absurdity of that? From a business perspective, having these vulnerabilities around makes it easer for their competitors to collect the same kinds of data about internet search and private emails from people around the internet that Google collects from legit means. Getting vulnerabilities fixes widens Google's data moat.

Disclosing issues is not "policing". They are not arresting people, or taking any action other than stating the truth, that some software is vulnerable.

If they disclose at 90 days and harm ensues, the user bears responsibility for continuing to use the software. If they trust the software vendor to issue timely updates, then they can turn around and lay blame at the vendor for not fixing the issue. Or they can blame the hacker.