UK data watchdog 'looking into' Google+ mission creep

[raelynne]

UK data watchdog 'looking into' Google+ mission creep

Exclusive Blighty's Information Commissioner's Office is currently "looking into" Google's recent ID verification rejig, The Register has learned.

I'll be looking for the results of this with interest. The UK and European courts have been previously successful in standing up to Big IT Business, so I'm hopeful they can do it again.

Comments

[shiyiya]

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/all-google-profiles-will-be-public-private-profiles-deleted-on-july-31st/3111

[xenacryst]

Ok, that article implies that keeping your profile out of search is not equivalent to having a private profile. That's not clear from the things I've seen Google saying (in particular http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en&answer=1192471), but it's good to know. It means my RL profile is probably safe. I still think it's very much the wrong move and is likely to piss off a lot of people. Hell, it pisses off me, because I'd *like* to have a completely private profile. Google is doing its best to try to drive me away.

[musyc]

I would very much recommend that you back up all the information in your profile if there's anything you can't bear to lose. Everything I've seen discussed indicates that they are requiring that all profiles be searchable, at least by name, which means no completely private profiles. (So Jane Q. Privacy might not have anything displayed except name, but she still has to have her name displayed if she wants any profile at all on Google. If even that much needs to be private, no profile allowed.) I suspect there's going to be a lot of deleted profiles come August 1st, because Google hasn't been clear at all.

[shiyiya]

Yeah, I don't know. All I know is that google has done an excellent job of burning through all good opinion I had of them and are heading quite quickly for evilogue. I am not pleased about the idea of having to find replacements for all the google services I use. Ugh.