The purpose of the extension within Google is to notify you of privacy and security risks for potentially dangerous websites.
The comment she injected into a benign law website has nothing to do with that and whether there was some weak approval process that missed this glaring fact doesn’t make it okay.
In the English languages words are understood in the context they are used. In this case it was obviously about security and privacy. So it's a nice attempt at spin but much like other attempts at defending this behaviour that's all it really is. A whole lot of spin to justify it via the ends while glossing over the completely unprofessional means.
It's literally an internal tool for google employees to popup informational or warning messages on a per-site basis. The ends was exactly what the freaking tool was built for.
IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden.
I think the employee has a point with the pop-up. Wall posters aren't a good way to reach technology workers. Some kind of digital notification like a pop-up or regular reminder email would be more sensible. Remote employees can't see a poster at the office, for instance.
The idea of the popup isn't the issue I have with this.
It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from.
It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work.
Sure the notice is required, but putting it so it shows up solely on the website for the legal firm hired by your employer is a political message before it is a helpful message.
> It's coopting an internal tool for political messages then implying "it passed PR" means you had permission from where it should come from.
No one's saying it "passed PR", it passed the review process that was in place for similar changes.
> IIRC, an employer has to make the content available in some form in a place where employees will see it, not just anywhere. Traditionally it's a wall display of posters in a cafeteria or break room. Trying to fulfill the requirement by putting the posters up in a broom closet of the CEO's office would be forbidden.
> It's not even the message itself, I don't want politics, even those I agree with, living in the codebase I use at work.
A lot of this thread feels like unusual sudden concern for the aesthetics of the cafeteria wall.
No, more to point out that it's a weird concern to have about an internal tool used by a company that uses their code to exert huge, global political influence. It's a strangely specific grain of rice to make an issue of.