diff --git a/tools/bots/bot_utils.py b/tools/bots/bot_utils.py
index 5bd718bddd4..58f136dbe1e 100755
--- a/tools/bots/bot_utils.py
+++ b/tools/bots/bot_utils.py
@@ -227,7 +227,6 @@ class GSUtil(object):
                local_path,
                remote_path,
                recursive=False,
-               public=False,
                multithread=False):
         assert remote_path.startswith('gs://')
 
@@ -235,8 +234,6 @@ class GSUtil(object):
             args = ['-m', 'cp']
         else:
             args = ['cp']
-        if public:
-            args += ['-a', 'public-read']
         if recursive:
             args += ['-R']
         args += [local_path, remote_path]
diff --git a/tools/bots/dart_sdk.py b/tools/bots/dart_sdk.py
index 0451f7b23ea..d14f3ce1119 100755
--- a/tools/bots/dart_sdk.py
+++ b/tools/bots/dart_sdk.py
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ def UploadDartdocApiDocs(dir_name):
         dir_name,
         dartdocs_destination_gcsdir,
         recursive=True,
-        public=True,
         multithread=True)
 
 
@@ -185,7 +184,7 @@ def GuessExtension(binary):
 
 def DartArchiveFile(local_path, remote_path, checksum_files=False):
     gsutil = bot_utils.GSUtil()
-    gsutil.upload(local_path, remote_path, public=True)
+    gsutil.upload(local_path, remote_path)
     if checksum_files:
         # 'local_path' may have a different filename than 'remote_path'. So we need
         # to make sure the *.md5sum file contains the correct name.
@@ -194,10 +193,10 @@ def DartArchiveFile(local_path, remote_path, checksum_files=False):
         mangled_filename = remote_path[remote_path.rfind('/') + 1:]
         local_md5sum = bot_utils.CreateMD5ChecksumFile(local_path,
                                                        mangled_filename)
-        gsutil.upload(local_md5sum, remote_path + '.md5sum', public=True)
+        gsutil.upload(local_md5sum, remote_path + '.md5sum')
         local_sha256 = bot_utils.CreateSha256ChecksumFile(
             local_path, mangled_filename)
-        gsutil.upload(local_sha256, remote_path + '.sha256sum', public=True)
+        gsutil.upload(local_sha256, remote_path + '.sha256sum')
 
 
 def Run(command, env=None):
diff --git a/tools/linux_dist_support/upload_debian_packages.py b/tools/linux_dist_support/upload_debian_packages.py
index d2f7151760b..ab3c9118127 100755
--- a/tools/linux_dist_support/upload_debian_packages.py
+++ b/tools/linux_dist_support/upload_debian_packages.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def ArchiveArtifacts(tarfile, builddir, channel):
     remote_tarfile = '/'.join(
         [namer.src_directory(revision),
          os.path.basename(tarfile)])
-    gsutil.upload(tarfile, remote_tarfile, public=True)
+    gsutil.upload(tarfile, remote_tarfile)
     # Archive all files except the tar file to the linux packages dir
     for entry in os.listdir(builddir):
         full_path = os.path.join(builddir, entry)
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def ArchiveArtifacts(tarfile, builddir, channel):
         if full_path != tarfile:
             package_dir = namer.linux_packages_directory(revision)
             remote_file = '/'.join([package_dir, os.path.basename(entry)])
-            gsutil.upload(full_path, remote_file, public=True)
+            gsutil.upload(full_path, remote_file)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/tools/promote.py b/tools/promote.py
index 966b735e8a0..4d32d19a3ef 100755
--- a/tools/promote.py
+++ b/tools/promote.py
@@ -152,30 +152,30 @@ def _PromoteDartArchiveBuild(channel, source_channel, revision):
         remove_gs_directory(to_loc)
         has_signed = exists(from_loc)
         if has_signed:
-            Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-a', 'public-read', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
+            Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
             # Because gsutil copies differently to existing directories, we need
             # to use the base directory for the next recursive copy.
             to_loc = release_namer.base_directory(to_revision)
 
         # Copy the unsigned sdk directory without clobbering signed files.
         from_loc = raw_namer.sdk_directory(revision)
-        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-n', '-a', 'public-read', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
+        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-n', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
 
         # Copy api-docs zipfile.
         from_loc = raw_namer.apidocs_zipfilepath(revision)
         to_loc = release_namer.apidocs_zipfilepath(to_revision)
-        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-a', 'public-read', from_loc, to_loc])
+        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', from_loc, to_loc])
 
         # Copy linux deb and src packages.
         from_loc = raw_namer.linux_packages_directory(revision)
         to_loc = release_namer.linux_packages_directory(to_revision)
         remove_gs_directory(to_loc)
-        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-a', 'public-read', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
+        Gsutil(['-m', 'cp', '-R', from_loc, to_loc])
 
         # Copy VERSION file.
         from_loc = raw_namer.version_filepath(revision)
         to_loc = release_namer.version_filepath(to_revision)
-        Gsutil(['cp', '-a', 'public-read', from_loc, to_loc])
+        Gsutil(['cp', from_loc, to_loc])
 
     promote(revision)
     promote('latest')