Google employee used YouTube backend for Nintendo leaks – report

A large dataset collected by 404 Media from an anonymous tipster has revealed a Google employee could be behind past Nintendo leaks.

An internal report from Google has revealed that a past Google employee may be behind past Nintendo leaks. The internal Google report contains a series of privacy and security issues gathered by employees over a six-year period. The report passed onto 404 Media through an “anonymous tipster”, reveals a series of alarming privacy concerns.

The report, published by 404 Media, claims an incident was reported where a Google employee “accessed private videos in Nintendo’s YouTube account”. This information was then leaked ahead of planned Nintendo announcements.

Nintendo

The report did not reveal the exact Nintendo leaks in question, however, 404 Media stated that the the activity in the incident was “non-intentional” as identified by the Google report. This incident was just one of a series of alarming privacy concerns brought forth by the anonymously provided data.

Between the years 2013 and 2018, of similar incidents were reported in the database, which was initially shared internally by Google employees. These reports included problems discovered with Google’s own practices, and products, and mistakes made by Google staff.

Thousands of incidents were reported in this dataset, including payment information being exposed after the Sabre travel agent, used by Google, was comprised, along with a filter, that was created to prevent children’s voices from being collected being “not correctly applied.”

After obtaining the previously-internal data, 404 Media reached out to Google who explained, “At Google employees can quickly flag potential product issues for review by the relevant teams. When an employee submits the flag they suggest the priority level to the reviewer.”

Google went on to state that, ” The reports obtained by 404 are from over six years ago and are examples of these flags—every one was reviewed and resolved at that time.”