A misinterpretation of the ‘.ds_store’ files in Google Drive are affecting some macOS users.
Google Drive users are getting notifications through their email that says ‘the file violates Google Drive’s terms of service’. Upon closer inspection, it’s the .ds_store files that’s causing the false positive within the company’s automated scanning system.
Social media platforms, including Reddit have reported that their Google Drive warnings are activated by the .ds_store file, which contains custom attributes related to the folder it’s stored in. It’s typically hidden but does appear in instances such as a ZIP archive, for example.
It’s believed that the .ds_store is cursing hash issues between the file and known copyrighted content. When this happens, the platform puts out a warning and the process is halted.
Google Drive users have experienced similar issues before- in January, files that had several numbers in its name were considered content that contained copyright violations.
