I heart Google Docs and use it for lots of projects, including the rough draft of the Triune Corebook Players’ Edition. For those not in the know, Google Docs is a free online version of your typical Office software. I can access my documents from any internet-connected PC and type, edit, etc.

Another cool feature is sharing. By adding specific gmail accounts, I can allow others to access any Google Docs file I want. I can limit their access to viewing only or even give them the right to edit the document. Great stuff!

Except … when I logged into Google Docs this morning, Google had flagged the Triune Corebook Players’ Edition rough draft as “Inappropriate” and would not let me share it with anyone. No explanation, no description of the inappropriate content, just an exclamation point next to the file and a small note saying I cannot share it.

Here are the inevitable questions which are really rants:

• Why is Google looking at the content of my files? I’m not upset per se but why would Google bother? It’s obvious any bad content is from the user.
• Why can’t I decide whom to share it with? It’s not like I’m opening the file to the world. I specified two people, that’s it. Can’t they decide what’s appropriate or not?
• What’s inappropriate in the file? It’s probably something about religion since that’s always a touchy subject. But I’m curious what set off the Google Police alarm.

I’ve asked Google to review their declaration, and if they don’t change things … I dunno what to do next. Find someplace else to store files for sharing, I suppose.

I expected some controversy given the nature of the game. Still, I never expected to upset the Google.