Security Expert Slams Google+ Pseudonym Policy 373
An anonymous reader writes "A security expert has panned Google's "real name" policy on Google+, claiming that the hard line will damage privacy. Sophos's Chester Wisniewski says that closing accounts where users have adopted false names erodes privacy on the social network. 'What they seemed to have missed is that the very foundation of privacy is identity. Simply knowing my postal code or birth date is meaningless without a name to associate it with. By requiring people to only use their real names, unless they just happen to be a celebrity, they have eliminated the ability for people to be private in any meaningful way.'"
Re:I don't get it (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, Google suspended the G+ accounts, and non-related Google services (Gmail, etc) were left intact and operable by the suspended user.
Re:Dumb for G+ (Score:5, Informative)
My profile has all of these items filled out. Only things viewable to public is Name,Gender, and a profile pic. Everything else is either shared with a specific circle, all circles, or extended circles based on how sensitive I find the info. Contact Info goes to specific circles. Education + Employment go to immediate circles. Relationship + Occupation go in extended circles, as that is largely public info, but not something I want shared with the whole world.
This is not rocket science people. Every one of those options was displayed in the very same prompt that that info was entered in. The only excuse someone has for not setting their privacy settings on their profile is "I'm too damn lazy to read."