Business Insider: Scale AI exposed sensitive data about clients like Meta and xAI in public Google Docs, BI finds. “As Scale AI seeks to reassure customers that their data is secure following Meta’s $14.3 billion investment, leaked files and the startup’s own contractors indicate it has some serious security holes. Scale AI routinely uses public Google Docs to track work for high-profile […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/06/26/business-insider-scale-ai-exposed-sensitive-data-about-clients-like-meta-and-xai-in-public-google-docs-bi-finds/

You wouldn't download/screenshot an Excel File! #googledocs

#ProTip: "Suggested edits" in #GoogleDocs is a bit of a mess, but you can tell #GDocs to let you preview the doc as if those edits were all accepted. Go to:

Tools -> Review suggested edits

Then in the "Suggested edits" dialog that pops up, use the *dropdown menu* to "Preview 'Accept all'" (make sure you use the dropdown and NOT the buttons)

It is stunning how little awareness there is in activist circles regarding the use of #FCKINGGoogle.

Stop sending me open letters for #palestine, queries rgarding #climateactivism etc. from #googledocs. They end up in my garbage instantly, no matter the content.

If you have not even BASIC awareness of the danger you put me and others in by exposing us to #SurveillanceCapitalism, if you have no idea on how much you feed the #policestate with that information, give your very opponent an edge in your dear cause; if you have not even investigated a tiny tiny bit what privacy friendly alternatives there are out there, what are you even doing as an activist?

@CryptPad
@digitalcourage
@Framasoft
#privacy #activism #Google #fascism

I was trying to write a memo in #GoogleDocs today and kept getting prompts from #Gemini to let it help me write. Even after I (thought I'd) turned off all the relevant options. Worse than fucking Clippy from Microsoft.

(1/2)

Wow so French and German government agencies are building a joint #opensource, self-hostable #GoogleDocs replacement.

I would ofc prefer this being built by someone independent and *funded* by the public, but hell this does feel cool nevertheless:

https://docs.numerique.gouv.fr/login/

Factors:
1. Accessibility. Not everyone has really fast (or stable) internet.
2. Environmental. There's no reason to use more computing power than necessary for the task at hand. It's wasteful. Very few people need the fancy features advanced text editors introduce.
3. Interoperability. Text files I write and send are readable *everywhere.* Try loading up Google Docs on a 1024x768 screen with a 256MB RAM Pentium 3. You'll be lucky if Google Docs even loads.
4. Privacy. A text file is easy to protect. GPG is the most straightforward. It remains small, and there's no way middle-men can read it. Google Docs? Google has root and they're not encrypted from them. So, good luck.
5. Account requirements. Text files require no accounts anywhere. All you need it an Internet connection and a DNS server that'll point your computer the right way. SaaS requires that you also have up-to-date software, a powerful computer, and that you register an account with them to access files shared with you.
6. Storage space. A text file takes kilobytes. A .docx file takes megabytes. My daily journal, which granted has some meta-data but is still plain text, is nearing on 580kb after three years of diligent, detailed journaling. I can't help but doubt that Word would even open a .docx file that large if formatted natively. (Thousands of headings, links, timestamps, etc.)
6. Feature-set. Plain text lets you do enough for 99% of all tasks. Yes, it's not as pretty, but within the bounds of putting characters into a file, you have complete freedom. Proprietary services, on the other hand, have a very very rich feature-set, most of which is irrelevant for 99% of users. The drawback of this is that every user is forced to load these rarely-used functions onto their own computer when the applications load up. That's wasteful, and likely cost the world hundreds of millions in unnecessary energy expenditure already.

TL;DR: Use plain text unless you absolutely positively can't help it. It's seriously better in every way.

#plaintext #emacs #txt #notepad #bloat #bloatware #saas #googledocs #msword #microsoftword #rant

RE: https://fed.bajsicki.com/notes/a6uy06mot0

Who has worked with @numerique_gouv #Docs or @cryptpad Documents?
For easy, low-threshold inter-institutional co-authorship (parameters are usability for authors used to #GoogleDocs as much as #datasecurity):

My always up-to-date table of now 942 verified media accounts in the #Fediverse (which is not on #GoogleDocs anymore) is beginning to be helpful:
https://fingolas.eu/fediverse/overview.html

I added a custom search builder (above the table at the left) that gives powerful options to filter the whole database.
There are now also the first bridged media accounts from #Bluesky und accounts from other software in the #Fediverse (like from @index): Search by Software.

Next is styling the page a bit

EDIT: Problem kinda solved by deleting all browser data, but still weird because I've never heard of Canva and run several privacy extensions simultaneously in Firefox. Any further comments welcome, but problem is at least resolved if still unexplained.

Help needed #Google #GoogleDocs #GoogleDrive

Background: I often make Google documents to share with students to edit, set to public, no login required.

Problem: Today it seems that something called "Canva Integrations" is required for somebody to access a newly made public/edit Google Doc link. This is pervasive across several Google logins, including my work-based enterprise access.

Older Google Docs, including as recent as last week do not seem affected.

Is this Google's new business model? Something else?

Hoping some #NVDASR user who uses #chrome with #GoogleDocs can shed some light on this to help a friend. When she goes into a new document in Docs, she isn't able to type, and I am unable to reproduce the issue. Any ideas on what could be causing this? Boosts welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

***Hashtags***
#Accessibility #A11y #Google #ScreenReader

US gov't allegedly uses AI to scan internal messages for Trump criticism

Government employees in the US have been warned that the government is using AI to search for criticism in internal communication channels, according to a report

https://www.heise.de/en/news/US-gov-t-allegedly-uses-AI-to-scan-internal-messages-for-Trump-criticism-10345631.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

US-Regierung sucht angeblich mit KI in interner Kommunikation nach Trump-Kritik

Staatsbedienstete in den USA sind laut einem Bericht gewarnt worden, dass die Regierung mithilfe von KI in internen Kommunikationskanälen nach Kritik fahndet.

https://www.heise.de/news/US-Regierung-sucht-angeblich-mit-KI-in-interner-Kommunikation-nach-Trump-Kritik-10345526.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

Ich suche eine Alternative zu Google Docs, die folgenden drei Kriterien genügt:

* Hosting in der EU
* Möglichkeit, Texte per Link zum Bearbeiten mit unangemeldeten Personen zu teilen
* Android-App, die meine Augen nicht beleidigt

Muss nicht gratis sein (Testphase wäre praktisch). Muss außer Text und ein bisschen Formatierung (fett, kursiv, so was) nicht viel können (Tabellen, Gleichungen, Code sind nicht wichtig).

Ich dachte an iA Writer, aber die haben (aus verständlichen Gründen) keine Android-App mehr.

Ich teste gerade OnlyOffice. Das ist okay, aber besticht durch eine 90er-Jahre-Optik und Fonts, die irgendwie alle pixelig aussehen. Es funktioniert, aber macht keinen Spaß. (Außerdem lädt mein Testdokument gerade nicht.)

Hat wer noch eine Idee?