[user_7832]

> Man, paying Google/Apple $5/mo is surely a much better solution for her. And are you really doing 3-2-1 on that?

Just some days back someone on reddit posted how their 14yo son (via a family/linked Google account) used Gemini Live to, err, enjoy himself with the camera on.

All his accounts are now permanently locked for CSAM.

So, yes, not being beholden to a megacorp absolutely has its uses.

[Aurornis]

That Reddit post was thoroughly debunked as untrue. It had some obvious plot holes and inconsistencies.

Google even came out and said that’s not how account suspensions work: They don’t sequentially ban other accounts that have been associated with a device that was associated with an account, as many pointed out.

I’m surprised how many people fell for that obvious piece of Reddit creative fiction. I think we’ll be hearing about it as an urban legend for years.

Reddit has become a place for posting fiction on advice subs. It started on the relationship advice subs but has spread to all of the advice subs now, like the legal advice post you saw. You have to read Reddit with a lot of skepticism.

[user_7832]

Thanks, it's good to know this thing wasn't true. I wasn't aware of it at all.

Unfortunately I have seen other horror stories (dad takes a picture to send to the doctor, it uploads to iCloud/Google photos, account gets banned) to be wary of trusting any such large corp.

Partly tangential, but just yesterday there was a post of someone with a checzk password who got locked out of their iPhone. Now of course an iCloud backup might have actually helped them here, but the reliance on "It's Apple, it'll work" is a very common thing (understandably!), but unfortunately not true.

[user_7832]

Oh, by the way - this was the account he used for his business (I don't remember if it was a custom domain). He's pretty much lost his only way of communicating with customers. This isn't just a "whoops, let me make a new email" situation.

(You can go to the legal advice UK subreddit if you want to see the post.)

[Aurornis]

> (You can go to the legal advice UK subreddit if you want to see the post.)

It was removed quickly because it was obviously untrue. The details of the story weren’t even consistent across the posters comments.