| Recurring |
unknown |
(a) The software failure incident related to Google Photos sending personal videos to strangers due to a software bug has not been reported to have happened again within the same organization [96168].
(b) There is no information in the provided article about a similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase: The incident of personal videos being emailed to strangers was caused by a software bug in Google Photos' export tool. Users who requested to export their data between November 21 and November 25 experienced the flaw where videos were wrongly added to unrelated users' archives. This issue was specifically linked to the Google Takeout tool, which is used for downloading data. Google acknowledged the bug and mentioned that they have conducted an in-depth analysis to prevent such incidents in the future [96168].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase: The incident of personal videos being emailed to strangers was a result of a software bug in Google Photos' export tool. Users who used Google Takeout to export their data experienced the issue, where videos were mistakenly added to other users' archives. This operational failure led to private videos potentially being sent to strangers and incomplete archives being downloaded by users. Google emphasized that the bug only affected users of Google Takeout and not the broader Google Photos user base [96168]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident reported in the article was due to a software bug within Google Photos' export tool. The bug caused personal videos of some users to be added to unrelated users' archives when they requested to export their data [96168].
(b) outside_system: The incident did not mention any contributing factors originating from outside the system that led to the software failure. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in Article 96168 occurred due to a software bug in Google Photos that resulted in some users' personal videos being emailed to strangers. This was a non-human action as the flaw affected users who requested to export their data, and the export tool wrongly added videos to unrelated users' archives without human intervention. Google acknowledged the bug and mentioned that they fixed the underlying issue to prevent it from happening again in the future [96168].
(b) Additionally, human actions were involved in the response to the incident. Google self-reported the issue to the Irish data protection commissioner and emphasized that they are notifying affected users. The company also mentioned that they conducted an in-depth analysis to prevent such incidents in the future, showing human intervention in addressing the software failure incident [96168]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article 96168 was due to a software bug in Google Photos that resulted in users' personal videos being emailed to strangers. This incident was not attributed to hardware failure but rather to a flaw in the software that caused the export tool to wrongly add videos to unrelated users' archives [96168]. The bug affected users who used Google Takeout to export their Google Photos content between November 21 and November 25, leading to the sharing of private videos with strangers and incomplete archives being downloaded [96168]. The issue was acknowledged by Google, and they mentioned that they fixed the underlying software problem to prevent such incidents in the future [96168].
(b) The software failure incident, as described in Article 96168, was specifically attributed to a software bug in Google Photos. The incident was caused by a flaw in the export tool of Google Photos, which incorrectly added videos to unrelated users' archives when users requested to export their data [96168]. This software bug led to private videos being sent to strangers and incomplete archives being downloaded by users, highlighting a software-related failure rather than a hardware issue [96168]. Google acknowledged the software bug and took steps to address the underlying software problem to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future [96168]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in Article 96168 was non-malicious. Google reported that a software bug in the Google Takeout tool resulted in some users' personal videos being emailed to strangers. The issue occurred when users requested to export their data between November 21 and November 25, and the export tool mistakenly added videos to unrelated users' archives. Google acknowledged the bug, fixed the underlying issue, and conducted an in-depth analysis to prevent such incidents in the future. The company also self-reported the incident to the Irish data protection commissioner [96168]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
unknown |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Google Photos bug sending personal videos to strangers was primarily due to poor_decisions. The incident was caused by a software bug in the export tool used by Google Photos users, specifically those who requested to export their data between November 21 and November 25 using Google Takeout. This bug resulted in videos, not photos, being added to unrelated users' archives, potentially sending private videos to strangers. Google acknowledged the issue and mentioned that they have fixed the underlying problem and conducted an in-depth analysis to prevent such incidents in the future. The incident was considered a data breach impacting user privacy, highlighting the importance of robust security measures to maintain user trust in cloud providers like Google Photos [96168]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the article as Google acknowledged that a software bug resulted in some users' personal videos being emailed to strangers. The flaw affected users of Google Photos who requested to export their data, leading to the export tool wrongly adding videos to unrelated users' archives. This incident highlights a failure in the development process that allowed for the incorrect sharing of private videos [96168].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is also apparent in the article. Google described the incident as a bug that may have affected users who used Google Takeout to export their Google Photos content between specific dates. The company emphasized that the issue was unintentional and not a deliberate action. This accidental software failure led to private videos being potentially sent to strangers, highlighting the unintended consequences of the bug [96168]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident described in the article was temporary. The incident occurred for four days when the export tool in Google Photos wrongly added videos to unrelated users' archives. Google acknowledged the software bug and mentioned that they fixed the underlying issue to prevent it from happening again in the future [96168]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident described in the article is not related to a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions [96168].
(b) omission: The software failure incident is related to an omission where the system failed to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). In this case, the software bug resulted in some users' personal videos being emailed to strangers, indicating a failure in the system's intended function of securely exporting and handling user data [96168].
(c) timing: The software failure incident is not related to timing, where the system performs its intended functions correctly but too late or too early [96168].
(d) value: The software failure incident is related to a value failure where the system performed its intended functions incorrectly. Users who used Google Takeout to export their Google Photos content between November 21 and November 25 may have received incomplete archives or videos that were not theirs, indicating a failure in the system's data export process [96168].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident is not related to a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions [96168].
(f) other: The other behavior of the software failure incident is a data breach that impacted the privacy of users. While the issue was limited to videos being incorrectly shared when downloading an archive, it is considered a data breach that compromised user privacy [96168]. |