Since the .DS_Store file was mistaken for a copyright infringement file by Google Drive, this caused trouble for many macOS users using this Google cloud storage service. These macOS users recently received emails warning them that a file violated Google Drive’s Terms of Service, specifically the Copyright Infringement Policy. However, this was a false positive from Google’s automatic file scanning system.
On social platforms such as Reddit and Twitter, many macOS users reported false positives. The “.DS_Store” file is widely used in the macOS system and mainly displays custom properties related to the folders it contains.
Normally, this file is hidden from macOS users, but in certain circumstances, such as in ZIP archives, it occasionally appears. While the Finder tries to hide the file as much as possible, it may appear on cloud storage services when the directory is uploaded, or sometimes when other operating systems (such as Windows) are used to inspect the folder, depending on the hidden files setting of the configuration.
Tech media AppleInsider reproduced the problem on an Intel Mac Mini. However, this problem has not been reproduced on the MacBook Pro and iMac also equipped with Intel chips.
But it seems unlikely that this is a problem affecting a specific type of Mac. It is believed that the issue may be caused by a hash match between the.DS_Store file and those known copyrighted content, which may prompt breach notification.