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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 15 december 2018

Google accelerates Plus closure after another privacy lapse

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE Google’s privacy issues on
AP Technology Writer Plus are likely to be a topic
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — that U.S. lawmakers delve
Google is still having trou- into Tuesday, when com-
ble protecting the personal pany CEO Sundar Pichai is
information on its Plus ser- scheduled to appear be-
vice, prodding the compa- fore a House committee. Pi-
ny to accelerate its plans chai’s appearance comes
to shut down a little-used more than three months af-
social network created to ter he turned down an invi-
compete against Face- tation to testify in August, to
book. the consternation of some
A privacy flaw that inadver- lawmakers. Some members
tently exposed the names, of Congress are now mull-
email addresses, ages and ing whether tougher regu-
other personal information lations to curb the power
of 52.5 million Google Plus of Google, Facebook and
users last month convinced other technology compa-
Google to close the service nies are needed in addition
in April instead of August, demanding tighter controls
as previously announced. over digital privacy.
Google revealed the new Facebook has had even
closure date and its latest In this Dec. 4, 2017 file photo, people walk by Google offices in New York. more trouble guarding the
privacy lapse in a Monday Associated Press personal information that
blog post . most recent privacy prob- ized users who accessed sonal information it collects it scoops up on its social
It’s the second time in two lem on Plus. This time Plus through the inadver- about the billions of people networking service, which
months that Google has around, the names, email tent peephole have missed who use its search engine, now has more than 2.2 bil-
disclosed the existence of addresses, ages and other used any of the personal Gmail, Chrome browser, lion users. The most glaring
a problem that enabled personal information of the information. maps, and Android soft- breakdown emerged in
unauthorized access to affected Plus users were Even if the latest privacy ware for smartphones. March when Facebook ac-
Plus profiles. In October, the exposed for six days in No- gaffe on Plus didn’t cause Like Facebook, Google knowledged the personal
company acknowledged vember before it was fixed. any major damage, it nev- makes most of its money by information of as many as
finding a privacy flaw af- No financial information ertheless marks another selling ads that draw upon 87 million of its users had
fecting 500,000 Plus users or passwords were visible embarrassing incident for what the company learns been shared with Cam-
that it waited more than six to intruders, according to Google. The company’s about the interests, habits bridge Analytica, a data
months to disclose. Google. The company also business model relies on it and locations of people mining firm affiliated with
Google moved more said it hasn’t seen evidence being seen as a trustwor- while they’re using its free President Donald Trump’s
quickly to own up to the indicating that unauthor- thy guardian of the per- services. 2016 campaign.q

Facebook says bug may have exposed photos on 7M users

By BARBARA ORTUTAY scandals and other prob- swer questions. Asked by
AP Technology Writer lems for the world’s biggest a reporter what grade
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- social network. she’d give Facebook for
book said Friday that a soft- Revelations that the data- its privacy work in the past
ware bug affecting nearly mining firm Cambridge year, she said “B.” By 2019,
7 million users may have Analytica improperly ac- she said she hopes the im-
exposed a broader set of cessed data from as many provements will result in an
photos to app developers as 87 million users led to “A.”
than what those users in- congressional hearings and Privacy experts might call it
tended. changes in what sorts of grade inflation. In any case,
Although this doesn’t mean data Facebook lets outside the company has its work
the photos were actually developers access. In June, cut out before it makes the
seen by anyone, the reve- a bug affecting privacy top grade.
lation of the bug offers an- settings led some users to With two more weeks left
other reminder of just how post publicly by default re- of the year, it’s possible
much data Facebook has gardless of their previous there’s still time for another
on its 2.27 billion users and settings. This bug affected privacy kerfuffle at Face-
how often these sorts of People talk inside a Facebook “pop-up” trailer in New York’s as many as 14 million users book. While the scandals
slipups happen. Bryan Park on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. over several days in May. don’t seem to have affect-
In a blog post, the com- Associated Press On Thursday, to counter ed the company’s mas-
pany said the bug af- Generally when people Marketplace or on Face- the bad rap it’s gotten sive user base, growth has
fected 6.8 million people give apps access to their book Stories. The bug also around privacy as of late, slowed.
who granted permission for photos, it means only pho- affected photos that peo- Facebook hosted a one- And the company has had
third-party apps to access tos posted on their Face- ple uploaded to Facebook day “pop-up” to talk to us- to increase how much it
the photos. Facebook said book page. but chose not to post or ers about their settings and spends on privacy and se-
the users’ photos may have Facebook says the bug could not post for technical whatever else may be on curity, which put a dent in
been exposed for 12 days potentially gave develop- reasons. their mind. its bottom line and in Au-
in September and that the ers access to other photos, The problem comes in a Chief Privacy Officer Erin gust contributed to a stock
bug was fixed. such as those shared on year fraught with privacy Egan was on hand to an- price plunge.q