Kiss Goodbye To Privacy – Google To Take It Away 31st July
Online giants Google have revealed that they are set to remove all private accounts within their new Google Plus social networking platform following a review of the current accounts showed that a number of users were limiting the exposure of their accounts online.
Last week Google announced the release of their Twitter and Facebook alternative ‘Google Plus’, sparking a rush of online users to sign up to the platform in a bid to get a glimpse of the latest addition to the Google brand but it seems that many of those users were looking to keep the majority of their information private from those who were not associated with them, a move that Google have revealed is not in the spirit of the use of the Google Plus site.
Google gave their thoughts over the matter within their Google+ help section as they commented on the use of private profiles used on the platform, saying that there are a large number of users who are currently restricting their profile from being viewed by the public.
The statement that shared their review of the situation said:
The purpose of Google Profiles is to enable you to manage your online identity. Today, nearly all Google Profiles are public. We believe that using Google Profiles to help people find and connect with you online is how the product is best used. Private profiles don’t allow this, so we have decided to require all profiles to be public.
Although the move to delete private profiles from their database seems to be one that will not please a large percentage of those who are currently using a private profile, Google have moved to assure those users that their profile will not be completely public, saying within their statement that only your full name and gender will be displayed to others, other personal information will still be able to be omitted from their view should you wish it to be.
For example, Google have said that as standard the profiles of users will be used within search results in a bid to improve business communications and deliver a better user experience for those that are searching for specific products and services but you will be handed the option of being removed from the inclusion within the settings of your account.
If you are one of the many users that currently use the Google+ social networking platform that has a private account, you have been told that you have a couple of options in which to proceed, you can make a new public account, delete your account manually from within the platform or you can do nothing and they will remove the account from the database after July 31st 2011.
The move seems to be one that will ensure that the Google+ site offers the same feel as many of the major social networking sites already out there on the market while ensuring that you can not hide behind filters as you perform actions online.
The announcement to remove private accounts from Google+ seems to be one that will shake a few users into deciding not to use the site but will this prevent you from using the latest Google offering or will you still look to have your profile open to exposure?
Itsmartie 687 days ago
http://www.lamphouse.co.ukIts hardly removing privacy rules if only there name and gender is detailed and the rest is still private, only the same as facebook you can search for anyone and you will get there names and profile pictures they then choose how much extra information you can see
Kev 685 days ago
On facebook you can stop yourself being searched for. My privacy settings are strict and in order to find me you would have to search for the exact email address that I have used in my account rather than just my name
JTrevail 685 days ago
Kicking off Google profiles that are completely private prior to the public launch of Google+ is way different from making those who wish to remain unseen seen. Facebook is an ugly ad-space convenient for reaching people who waste their time playing shitty games full of micro-transactions. Google+ takes what’s convenient about Facebook, greatly improves upon it, and places it out in the open, you can keep what you’d like to be private private.
Gareth Jones 687 days ago
Once again proving that Google are evil. Google do not care about peoples privacy, they have made this publically known many times, yet so many people continue to bury their heads in the sand.
One of the wonderful things about being a developer is that you get to see end-users making use of your product in ways you did not expect. That’s fun, interesting, and it spurs on feature-based development. Dictating that all profiles must be public is not only offensive but also short sighted.
But then we all knew Google+ would fail in the same way of Google Wave, Orkut, Buzz, and so forth.
nathan 687 days ago
http://www.interactive3.co.ukThere appears to be some confusion 9well with me anyway) with the use of the word ‘account’ vs. ‘profile’. I believe you can have a Google account without having a profile – I am pretty sure I have an account like that. I could well be wrong though.
I had assumed that Google would be deleting profiles not accounts.
If they are deleting accounts then that is very worrying. However surely they will notify each account holder affected if this is the case.
Itsmartie 687 days ago
http://www.lamphouse.co.ukGareth think you are reading too much into this the only p[art that is made public is name and sex thats it, not exactly invading as nearly everyone is searchable and most people have facebook accounts or other social media accounts now and on them you can search for absolutly anyone you cant stop facebook from showing you, so same thing here,
nathan i know they said they would delete accounts/profiles however i dont think they actually will as they would be loosing people not gaining them which is the opposite to what they are wanting to do, instead they could just change the settings on the accoutn so it complies with the goolge rules for google +1
Sökoptimering 687 days ago
http://sokoptimering.netThis is kinda sad, i dont see the reason for google to force users to go public, none other than boosting user-ratings in google+ anyways. Since Google+ profiles is your old Google profile gone social.
tariq 687 days ago
whats bad in that if it only show your name and gender and rest of all you can limit. i have an account there and its amazingg far better than facebook or nay other social networking site. so just because of your profile is searchable one shouldnt avoid using it however the rest is in your hand either you want it to be displayed or not.
Matt 687 days ago
This is hype and false. In G+ when I get in to the privacy sections it states:
“Google Profile.
In order to use Google+, you need to have a public Google Profile visible to the world, which at a minimum includes the name you chose for the profile. That name will be used across Google services and in some cases it may replace another name you’ve used when sharing content under your Google Account. We may display your Google Profile identity to people who have your email address or other identifying information.”
Address: http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/policy/
I cited my source, this author did not cite his. The first indication it’s rumor is no citation. It may be the internet but standards for verifying information still apply. You may not be able to see the link if you don’t have a G+ account, not sure. Make your profile as public or private as you want, barring that you have to show a name…any name…on your public profile. Sounds acceptable to 99% of the people I know. If you’re online you’re public. It’s the nature of the beast.
David Whitehouse 687 days ago
Correct me if I’m wrong Matt, but weren’t you agreeing with the main point in the post?
So why would you say it is hype when you are citing another source from Google that basically says the same thing?
David Naylor 687 days ago
@matt
I cited my source now
http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1192471&p=public_profile
CandidCalum 687 days ago
All they require is one’s name and gender, so it’s not infringing upon much privacy. Most people don’t care about giving their full name out any more because it cannot be used to identify them.
Matt 687 days ago
Thanks for the citation. I think it’s a matter of interpretation. “All private profiles will be deleted [from Google+]…” is how I read it, especially since it’s on the G+ help site. The way your article is written it sounds like Google is deleting your google profile from all their services, taking their ball and going home if you don’t want to play their way. That’s not it. Make a PORTION of your profile private, make other portions available to specific circles. Are you a G+ user? If you are you can go in and edit your profile and see how flexible this really is. I can make my name…which I choose by the way…public, my “bragging rights” only visible to my family circle, my “Places I’ve lived” only visible to my friends circle, or completely invisible to anyone but me. It’s completely customizable and completely private, if that’s what you want.
Your headline, “Kiss goodbye to Privacy…” is an exaggeration, is about generating hype and hits, and very misleading. The way I read it, your privacy is very much in tact and your google profile is going nowhere, especially if you choose not to use G+.
Matt 687 days ago
It worked by the way, you have at least 3 hits from me now, and I’ve never been on your site before. Good job!
David Whitehouse 687 days ago
I see your point Matt.
And welcome to the site!!! You should come more often, we like a bit of banter – and it’s good to keep us on our toes!
Matt 687 days ago
Nadam 687 days ago
After I was done pounding the desk in anger and actually thought about what this means, it’s kinda like, what’s the big deal? So this will show someone searching your name that you exist and use one of the many services provided by Google?
It’s annoying the way they went about it, but as many people have already stated here, this isn’t something that Facebook isn’t already doing.
Martin Douce 685 days ago
I’m going to have to agree with Matt here.
The headline is just trying to grab attention.
Unfortunately there are too many people that will only read that and thus be swayed from using google+.
If that was your intention then it does it well.
If your intention was to start a balanced discussion or inform people as to what is actually going on. Then its a miserable title.
The circle method that google boasts so much about (their main selling point), I would say is very robust and simple method.
Having your name public isn’t really an issue, especially as you can lie, or use a pseudonym.
Your other article labeling google+ a spambot is the same. Bold Brash title that misinforms people.
Personally however i do think that a private profile option should be available. but not having one doesn’t impact the services privacy at all.
On the other hand your website is an interesting read i will certainly be bookmarking it.
Thankyou.