Google today announced a “Security update” for Drive to “make file sharing more secure.” This is part of a broader company-wide change that also affects YouTube and will impact the productivity app on September 13, 2021.
At a high level, this “update will change the links used for some files.” It could lead you and others to request file access, though “access to these files won’t change for people who have already viewed them.” The technical explanation of this security update is as follows:
This security update is being applied to some files in Google Drive to make sharing links more secure. The update will add a resource key to sharing links. Once the update has been applied to a file, users who haven’t viewed the file before will have to use a URL containing the resource key to gain access, and those who have viewed the file before or have direct access will not need the resource key to access the file.
Those with free personal accounts will have the option to “remove” this Google Drive security update. However, the company cautions against that and says this “should only be considered for files that are posted publicly.”
Starting in late July, Google will warn users with free accounts through an email that links to a list of “files with security update” and the removal process. They will have until September 13, 2021, to “determine how the update is applied to their files,” as that’s when the security measure goes into effect.
Meanwhile, Google Workspace admins will have more control over how this update is applied to an organization. They have to decide by July 23, while affected Workspace end users will start getting notified three days later before it takes place in September.
More about Google Drive:
- Drive color coding now applies to folder shortcuts and shared drives
- Google Drive will soon let you block users that share spam
- Google adding new and updating current Drive search operators
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
