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3 months ago
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I’m an independent developer who built Punge, an on-device NSFW image detection app. The idea was simple: give people tools to manage sensitive content on their own phones — not in the cloud, not handed over to big platforms, but fully under their control.
The inspiration was personal. I’d heard about a woman whose intimate photo was stolen and distributed by an ex. Her story stayed with me. I wanted to build something that could help people prevent that kind of violation. That’s where Punge came from — a privacy-first tool for personal safety.
To make the app effective, I trained a lightweight AI model and conducted a benchmark study comparing it to existing solutions, including Google Cloud Vision — the results of that benchmark are in this article.
To my surprise, Punge outperformed other available models, including Google’s own solution. I was excited by the results and wanted to expand my testing. So I visited Academic Torrents — an open platform for sharing research datasets, publications, and educational resources via the BitTorrent protocol, specifically designed for academic use.
There, I found a dataset commonly used in NSFW image classification research:
👉 https://academictorrents.com/details/1cda9427784a6b77809f657e772814dc766b69f5
I downloaded the dataset and unzipped it on my Google Drive.
Then, everything fell apart.
Google Suspended My Entire Account — Permanently
Shortly after running the file was unzipped, Google suspended my account for a content policy violation. I received no warning and no specific explanation other than it was a CSAM violation. Appeals were automatically denied, and I was never told what file triggered the flag.
Overnight, I lost access to:
- Gmail — 14 years of personal and professional history
- Firebase — my backend infrastructure
- AdMob — my monetization platform
- Google Cloud — all associated services and tools
This wasn’t just disruptive — it was devastating. I rely on these tools to develop, monitor, and maintain my apps. With no access, I’m flying blind.
If the dataset contained inappropriate or restricted material, I certainly never saw it or intended to interact with it. And if that’s the case, the dataset source — not a downstream developer — should be investigated and corrected. But Google has offered no transparency, no accountability, and no way to respond or appeal to a human being.
This Could Happen to Anyone
It’s not just developers at risk. Any researcher, content moderator, or regular user could unknowingly receive or process inappropriate material — whether through a meme, a dataset, or even spam — and lose their account in an instant. No warning. No investigation. Just erased.
I fully support systems that prevent harmful content. But a zero-tolerance policy without transparency or due process hurts innocent people — and there’s currently no way to clear your name or even understand what happened.
My Apps Are Still Live — But I Have No Control
What’s surreal is that my apps are still available in both app stores:
They work — for now. But I have no way to:
- Push updates for Android
- Access analytics
- Fix bugs
- Monitor issues
- Ensure they stay live
And to make it worse, Google is still billing my credit card for services attached to the suspended account — and I have no way to reach them. There is literally no support channel for suspended users. You’re just locked out and left to fend for yourself.
This Isn’t Just a Policy Failure — It’s a Warning
I was fully bought into the Google ecosystem, like millions of developers are. When Google suspended my account, they didn’t just remove access — they cut off the oxygen to everything I had built.
This isn’t about protecting users anymore. It’s about unchecked, opaque enforcement — and a total lack of accountability.
We need systems that:
- Flag responsibly
- Allow for investigation
- Offer human review
- Let innocent people reclaim their digital lives
What’s happening now is not responsible moderation. It’s a broken system — and it’s happening more often than you think.
Please Share This Story
If you made it this far, thank you. I hope you’ll consider sharing this story. Cases like mine are deeply isolating — and if something like this happens to someone else, they may be too embarrassed or overwhelmed to speak up.
As an individual, you feel powerless. Platforms are enormous; the process is opaque; the damage is personal and immediate.
If you’ve experienced something similar or have advice, legal resources, or media contacts, I’d truly love to hear from you. We can’t fix what we don’t talk about.
Please connect with me on:
LinkedIn:: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-russo-60a46912/
TIkTok demo of punge: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPHpvAsAoDwgm-f4wjA/
