Digital Dependency

If Google decided to cancel your Google account, you would lose access to Gmail and all your email, your YouTube account and any video you’ve uploaded. You would lose any app or content, either free or purchased, downloaded from the Google Play Store… and access to any service from the Google ecosystem. Also, if you use an Android cellphone, chances are your phone will be rendered unusable.

Similar reasoning applies to accounts with Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.

Do you think this scenario is unlikely? Last August, The New York Times reported the story of Marc, a Dad that took photos of his naked toddler for the doctor. Google flagged him as a criminal. Even when later the police didn’t find any evidence of a crime–it was a false positive–Google refused to restore his account and wiped his digital life.

Sometimes we are not aware of how much we depend on a small number of technology providers for things we take for granted.