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Google indexed a private site… WTH?

So there is this site which is still private (has a non divulged URL — other than two other co-maintainers — so the old site is simultaneous accessible) and I was very surprised to have received comment moderation notification for some spam comment.

WTH? The domain doesn’t even exist explicitly, it’s under a wildcard subdomain so how did this happen?

Well, it turns out that Google has already indexed it… how? A few #disturbing suspicions come to mind:

  • Both co-maintainers use GMail (Google scans email contents for better advertisement targeting, maybe it also scans for previously unknown websites…)
  • They also use Chromium (with likely safe-browsing from Google’s service, maybe it also scans for previously unknown websites…)
  • Maybe they also do that on Jabber communications
  • Maybe they also do that on private Plus communications (I’d not wonder if they did it on public ones, it’s the “private” ones I wonder…)

So there you go, if you’re working on a private website, mind your communication channels, maybe they’re being scanned and interpreted…

Maybe that’s why Larry Page is one of the heads behind tasteless CISPA…