Google is introducing a new update to Google Drive that basically changes the way file-sharing links work and make them more secure. This update may cause many public links to be broken unless their owners do something to update those.
Google has not given many details on what this update will be about. So, far tech giants have only have talked about adding a resource key to sharing links, which we have already seen in many files or even video sharing services. Now, both administrators and end-users have to do some work if they really want to make sure that their links remain usable.
As per the new update, those who have already viewed the file from the link won’t need the resource key to access the file after again the update takes effect, and those who haven’t would need that key. Though, it would depend upon the Google Drive owners to make sure they’ve given out the correct, new links for the files.
G Suite and Workspace admins would need to regulate before July 23 and decide how their organization will implement the security update by visiting Admin Console Apps > Workspace > Drive and Docs > Sharing settings > Security update for links. Those who have personal Drive accounts would receive notifications starting from July 26 about affected files due to updates. Now, it will depend on the situation, whether to remove the new update, which would continue the working of old and unsecured links, at the owner’s own risk.
From September 13, the new security policies will be effective and what admins or users have changed will remain in place after that date.
Along with this, some changes for YouTube are also coming next month, which will affect many old video links or embeds that are public, but marked as “Unlisted.” As explained in a blog post and video below, from July 23 any Unlisted videos that were uploaded before 2017 will have their status changed to Private unless users opt-out by filling out this form over the next month.