Google Storage Project

What kinds of accounts will be affected by the changes to the Google service?

The Google quotas and service changes will apply to all Google account holders at UC Berkeley, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, emeriti, and retirees; however, only a very small number of people are storing content over the new storage limits and will need to take action. Most people are not impacted by these changes.

What services do the storage limits apply to?

The quota applies to Google Drive, bMail, and Google Photos.

How do the storage limits impact email?

If you are over quota, some services such as creating a new Google Doc may cease to function, however Gmail will continue to send and receive email normally.

In Gmail, when you attach something to an email, if that item is below 25 MB it stays in Gmail and applies to the Gmail portion of your overall usage. Larger attachments are saved in Google Drive and apply to the Drive portion of your overall usage. In both cases, the usage contributes to your overall quota.

How do I know if I will be affected by the new storage limits?

All accounts will be given a storage limit. To find out how much storage you are currently using, go to this URL and log in with your CalNet ID: https://drive.google.com/settings/storage . As we continue to develop the quotas, if you are directly impacted we will email you.

Will you delete my data if I’m over the storage limit?

We always make absolutely every effort to communicate when content is at risk of deletion. Sometimes content can be automatically deleted as part of the account lifecycle, where we deactivate and then delete accounts that were used by people no longer affiliated with the university. If an account holder repeatedly ignores our attempt to contact them in order to assist with lowering usage and no engagement or reduction has occurred, we may consider deleting content in that account. It is our goal to never have to delete content on your behalf!

Will you be communicating directly with departments? Can you present this project to my department?

If your department has members whose accounts hold more than 1 TB of data, we have probably already contacted your department. If you’d like us to present the details of the project to your department, just email us at google-storage-project@berkeley.edu. We'd be happy to present the project or provide a workshop for your department to develop a content management strategy.

If Berkeley IT can see how much storage I’m using, do they have access to my content and data?

On a day to day basis, we apply the model of privileged access, meaning we access the minimum of what is necessary in order to perform the requested or required task. We only access an account’s data without permission in very specific and rare cases such as legal holds. In those cases, we never look at the contents, but pull the requested information without further perusal.

Are Google Drive or other Google core services going away?

The Google services you access at Berkeley will remain available to you, and your account will continue to work as it does now, as long as your account remains under your quota. You will still have access to all the same Google services you use now.

If another account shares files with me in My Drive, do those files count against my storage limit?

No, they are attributed to the owner’s account.

How can I learn more about what kind of data can be stored in Google Drive or other storage services at UC Berkeley?

https://security.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-box-and-google-data-use-agreement