Alphabet to shut Google+ after user data exposed
SAN FRANCISCO: Alphabet Inc’s Google will shut down the consumer version of its failed social network Google+ and tighten its data sharing policies after announcing on Monday that private profile data of at least 500,000 users may have been exposed to hundreds of external developers. The issue was discovered and patched in March as part of a review of how Google shares data with other applications, Google said in a blog post. No developer exploited the vulnerability or misused data, the review found.
Shares of its parent company Alphabet closed down 1 percent at $1155.92 following the latest in a run of privacy issues to hit big US tech companies. Google has also faced increasing tensions over a reported search engine which would be acceptable to Chinese censors, and over its work for the US military. Yesterday, Google confirmed it is dropping out of the bidding for a huge Pentagon cloud
computing contract that could be worth up to $10 billion, saying the deal would be inconsistent with its principles.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Google opted not to disclose the Google+ security issue due to fears of regulatory scrutiny, citing unnamed sources and a memo prepared by Google’s legal and policy staff for senior executives. Google feared disclosure would invite comparison to Facebook Inc’s leak of user information to data firm Cambridge Analytica, the Journal reported, adding that Chief Executive Sundar Pichai had been briefed on the issue. Google declined to comment beyond its blog post.
Google said on Monday none of the thresholds it requires to disclose a breach were met after reviewing the type of data involved, whether it could identify the users to inform, establish any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take to protect themselves. Security and privacy experts and financial analysts questioned the decision. “Users have the right to be notified if their information could have been compromised,” said Jacob Lehmann, managing director at consulting and accounting firm Friedman CyZen. “This is a direct result of the scrutiny that Facebook dealt with regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal.”
Google+ launched in 2011 as the advertising giant grew more concerned about competition from Facebook, which could pinpoint ads to users based on data they had shared about their friends, likes and online activity. Google+ copied Facebook with status updates and news feeds and let people organize their groups of friends into what it calls “circles”. But Google+ and the company’s other experiments with social media struggled to win over users because of complicated features and privacy mishaps.
Facebook introduced a feature that allowed users to connect their accounts with their profiles on dating, music and other apps. Google followed suit, letting outside developers access some Google+ data with users’ permission. The bug disclosed on Monday, introduced in a software update, exposed private data including name, email address, occupation, gender and age, Google said. It could not definitely say how many users were affected because it said it keeps only two weeks of such records.
Google+ will remain an internal networking option for organizations that buy Google’s G Suite, a bundle of apps for creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Google’s plan to withdraw the free version of Google+, scheduled for August, could help strengthen its case to US policymakers and regulators that it is different from Facebook, which has faced political heat over allegations that data belonging to 87 million of its users was improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
Google refused to send Pichai to a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Sept 5, where Facebook’s chief operating officer and Twitter Inc’s
chief executive testified. An empty chair was left for Google after the committee rejected Google’s top lawyer as a witness. Several policies Google introduced on Monday are designed to curb the data accessible to developers offering mobile apps on the Google Play store or add-on apps for sending and organizing Gmail messages.
Play Store apps will no longer be allowed to access text message and call logs unless they are the default calling or texting app on a user’s device or have an exception from Google. Gmail add-ons available to consumers starting next year will be barred from selling user data and be subject to a third-party security assessment that will cost them about $15,000 to $75,000, Google said. Such moves could strengthen Google by making it harder for competing services to grow off its data, said Chris Messina, a designer who worked on Google+ before leaving in 2013. “In 2011, you wanted casual, scrappy developers creating apps, and now it is going to require a professional class that is serious. The walls are going up.”
Meanwhile, Google yesterday launched a new version of its connected speaker, with a touchscreen display designed to be a hub for smart home devices, but left out a camera for privacy reasons. The Google Home Hub, competing against Amazon’s Echo Show as a smart speaker powered by artificial intelligence, was unveiled at a New York media event where the tech giant also announced its upgraded Pixel 3 smartphone and a new tablet computer dubbed Pixel Slate.
The new speaker, to be sold for $149, is powered by Google’s smart digital assistant and is designed “to get the state of the entire home” by connecting to other smart devices, said Google vice president of product management Diya Jolly. Jolly said the Home Hub, with a seven-inch screen, will allow users to access a “dashboard” that can be used to control any of several thousand internet-connected devices or appliances. “You can turn down the temperature in the bedroom and turn up the music in your living room” using the screen, Jolly said.
But unlike the Echo Show and a new Portal chat device unveiled by Facebook, the Home Hub won’t have a camera, Jolly added. “We consciously did not put a camera on the Hub so you can use it in private spaces like your bedroom,” she said. Google also showed its new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones, with upgrades including edge-to-edge screens that offer more display space without increasing the size of the handset. The 5.5 inch Pixel 3 will sell from $799 and the 6.3 inch Pixel 3 XL from $899.
Google’s new Pixel Slate unveiled yesterday offers “the power and productivity of a desktop to a gorgeous tablet,” according to senior vice president Rick Osterloh. Osterloh said the new devices were designed to take advantage of Google’s development of artificial intelligence. “The big breakthroughs come at the intersection of AI, software and hardware, working together,” he said. “This approach is what makes the Google hardware experience so unique, and it unlocks all kinds of helpful benefits.”
While Google has been ramping up its hardware efforts, its smartphones have captured less than three percent of the global market, according to surveys. However, Google appears to be catching up with Amazon in the race for connected speakers. One survey showed the Google Mini to be the top-selling speaker in the second quarter of 2018.— Agencies