Google+ shutting down after users' data is exposed
Google is shutting down much of its social network, Google+, after user data was left exposed. It said a bug in its software meant information that people believed was private had been accessible by third parties. Google said up to 500,000 users had been affected.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the company knew about the issue in March but did not disclose it. The WSJ quoted an internal Google memo that said doing so would draw "immediate regulatory interest".
In a statement, the firm said the issue was not serious enough to inform the public. "Our Privacy and Data Protection Office reviewed this issue, looking at the type of data involved, whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response. None of these thresholds were met here."
Also at The Verge, Engadget, and CNBC.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:33AM (2 children)
Google failure. "Extremely low use rate" seems to be the language I have heard elsewhere. Most sessions lasting for ~5 seconds. Off to the trash heap of other abandoned Google projects.
(Score: 3, Touché) by coolgopher on Tuesday October 09 2018, @06:10AM (1 child)
Hah, you'd be lucky if a google+ page had even finished loading in those 5 seconds!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @12:49PM
In particular after the "material design" rework, with its constantly expanding and collapsing posts...