Did I just get hacked and what should I do next?

May 21, 2022 6:40 PM

I opened up a google doc today and someone was anonymously already on it. For context, this google doc is my planning document for a project I'm working on and I've never shared it with anyone before. Without sounding dramatic I'm almost wondering if it's because of something I'm working on and whoever was reading my document didn't want me to work on it.
posted by defmute to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

1. Check the settings that that it isn’t shareable 2. Any chance you had it open in another browser/on your phone/etc?
posted by raccoon409 at 6:43 PM on May 21, 2022 [9 favorites]

Yes my first thought here was definitely #2 -- when this has happened to me it's because I have another browser tab open with the same document.
posted by goingonit at 7:00 PM on May 21, 2022 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for the responses, everyone. I did not actually have it open anywhere else.
posted by defmute at 7:03 PM on May 21, 2022

It doesn't need to be "anywhere else" - it can be you in a separate tab on the same machine. If you mouseover the person there you should see something pop up indicating who they are.
posted by mhoye at 7:15 PM on May 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: What do the sharing settings say? Is it set to be viewable or editable by anyone with the link or anyone in your organization with the link (if your account is a work account)?

If you click the little squiggly upwards arrow icon on the top right of the document, you can see the viewer history (though I don't believe this includes anonymous viewers) and the permissions changes history, which could be helpful in seeing if the permissions were different in the past or who changed them if they have been changed.
posted by ssg at 7:54 PM on May 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: ssg, I couldn't figure yet how to find the viewer history but I'll keep working on that, thank you. The sharing settings were public, by the way, so I changed that.
posted by defmute at 11:49 PM on May 21, 2022

Would it help your sanity to make a copy and delete the original, then make sure all the settings are locked down on the new main version? At least give you some peace of mind.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 5:02 AM on May 22, 2022