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Google is about to have its Cambridge Analytica time. A security bug allowed third-party developers to access Google+ user profile data since 2015 until Google discovered and corrected them in March, but decided not to notify the user. world. When a user allowed an application to access their public profile data, the bug also allowed these developers to extract their non-public profile fields and those of their friends. 496,951 usernames, e-mail addresses, birth dates, gender, profile photos, places of residence, occupation, and relationship status were potentially exposed, although Google claims to have no evidence that the data was misused by the 438 applications that could have accessed it.
The company decided not to inform the public because it would have the effect of "putting us in the spotlight alongside Facebook, even to replace us, even if we remained under the radar throughout the Cambridge Analytica scandal" , according to an internal note. Now, Google+, which was already a ghost town largely abandoned or never inhabited by users, has become a heavy responsibility for society.
The news comes from a damning report from The Wall Street Journal, according to which Google is expected to announce a series of privacy reforms today in response to the bug. Google made this announcement regarding the findings of its Strobe project security audit report after the publication of the WSJ report. The changes include stopping most third-party developers from accessing SMS data from Android phones, call logs, and some contact information. Gmail will limit the creation of add-ons to a small number of developers. Google+ will cease all consumer services for the next 10 months, giving users the ability to export their data, while Google focuses on making G + a business product.
Google will also modify its account authorization system to allow third party applications to access your data, so you must confirm each type of access individually rather than all at once. Gmail add-ons will be limited to those that "directly enhance messaging functionality," including email clients, backup tools, CRM, merge, and productivity.
90% of Google+ sessions lasted less than 5 seconds
Google confessed with embarrassment: "This review has crystallized what we have known for a long time: namely that our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, but that It has not been widely adopted by consumers or developers. seen the limited user interaction with applications. The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90% of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds long. To learn more about G +'s demise, read our 2014 article on the beginning of the end.
Since the bug and security loopholes that followed started in 2015 and were discovered in March before the European GDPR entered into force in May, Google will likely be fined 2% of global annual income for not have revealed the problem within 72 hours. The company could still face class actions and public reprisals. G + posts and messages, account data and Google phone numbers, as well as G Suite business content have not been exposed.
What was Google+ like in case you do not remember
Since it is unclear whether the data of G + users has been erased or will be used for harmful purposes, the news of the bug itself may have been undone. In the same way that I wrote the recent violation of 50 million Facebook users, Facebook may be forgotten evil use is found. But because Google tried to hide the problem because it did not reach a threshold of gravity, the business seemed much worse. This casts doubt on the transparency of Google's research on other tons of controversial issues about its practices.
The fiasco could propel Google in the same wave of attacks that currently hides Facebook, as feared society. Google managed to escape most of the criticism of Facebook and Twitter, partly claiming that it was not really a social network. But now, his Facebook failure seven years ago could entail the search giant and see him endure more and more calls to testify before the congress and regulation.
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