USA Today posted about how Google will be shutting down Google+. The original article can be found HERE. Grand opening …. grand closing!
Google will accelerate the termination of its Google+ social network next year after detecting a security bug that leaked the data of millions of its users, the company announced Monday.
Through the bug, outside app developers who requested permission to view personal information that a user placed on their Google+ profile — such as name, email and occupation — were granted permission to view that profile, even if it was set to private. The breach did not turn over any financial data, national identification numbers or passwords.
Google+, which launched in 2011 as a means for Google to compete in the social network space, will now shut down in April instead of August, the company said.
App developers inadvertently had access to users’ information for six days following a November software update, according to the company. In total, 52.5 million users were affected.
This marks the second data breach for Google’s disappointing social network. The first occurred in October, when up to 500,000 users’ data was compromised. Shortly after, Google announced it would shut down the platform in 2019.
“We understand that our ability to build reliable products that protect your data drives user trust,” David Thacker, Google’s vice president of product management, said in a statement Monday. “We have always taken this seriously, and we continue to invest in our privacy programs to refine internal privacy review processes, create powerful data controls and engage with users, researchers, and policymakers to get their feedback and improve our programs.”
