Google is force canceling gsuite because I used unlimited storage as unlimited

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Context & Original Case

  • Original tweet: long-time Google Workspace/GSuite user with ~400 TB stored is being forced down to the 5 TB-per-user limit.
  • They were on an older “unlimited” plan, later transitioned to a 5 TB plan, with enforcement only now arriving.
  • User received months of warnings to reduce usage; data will become read-only and then be deleted after a grace period.
  • They treat it more as an amusing “great deal while it lasted” than an injustice, and only plan to rescue ~20 TB.

Bandwidth and Data Export Practicalities

  • Multiple commenters calculate that downloading 400 TB over a 1 Gbps link takes ~37–38 days, essentially the full 30‑day window, even before protocol overhead.
  • There is debate over TCP/IP and request overhead; some note overhead is nontrivial but much less than 10%.
  • Google offers export to a temporary Google Cloud Storage bucket, but it’s zipped and not selective, so tools like rclone are needed for partial retrieval.
  • Some note that providers and consumer ISPs often cannot sustain full line rate at scale, and “unlimited” ISP plans can throttle heavy users.

“Unlimited” Storage and Contract Changes

  • Strong disagreement over whether “unlimited” offers implicitly include reasonable limits:
    • One side: every “unlimited” offer has implicit limits; using hundreds of TB or PB is “abuse” of a flat-rate service.
    • Other side: if a company says “unlimited” without clearly stated caps, reducing or capping later is straightforward lying or bait-and-switch.
  • Some argue that monthly/recurring contracts always allow term changes with notice; others counter that “unlimited” should not be used if not literally true or time-bounded.

Impact on Universities and Enterprises

  • Universities previously got “unlimited” Google Drive; now many face strict institutional caps (e.g., 100 TB per university), hitting labs with multi‑TB or PB datasets.
  • Similar retrenchments reported at Microsoft OneDrive; users see “unlimited” in UI but hit opaque, varying caps.
  • Several note this exposes the risk of outsourcing core storage to cloud vendors instead of maintaining on‑prem systems.

Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Views

  • Some advocate regulatory penalties (e.g., FTC/ACCC actions) for misleading “unlimited” marketing, including escalating fines and even criminal liability for willful deception.
  • Others suggest small claims or class actions, though there’s skepticism these would materially change big‑tech behavior.
  • Broader sentiment: businesses often treat fines as a cost of doing business; more structural consequences or clearer advertising standards may be needed.