Closing the Curtain on Google+
Google announced in October that Google Plus will no longer be a social network for the public to use! Here is what you need to know!
Why is Google Plus going away?
The decision to close the curtain on Google+ as of August 2019 follows the revelation of a previously undisclosed data leak that was first discovered in March 2018, but not publicly disclosed until October 2018 which had exposed a half-million users’ profile data for as long as three years.
Google has now decided the consumer version of the social network will close at a much earlier date as a result of suffering yet another data leak. Google+ will now close to consumers in April 2019, rather than August 2019, four months earlier than it had originally planned. Additionally, API access to the network will also shut down within the next 60 days.
According to Google, the new data leak has impacted a whopping 52.5 million users for 6 days in November 2018. Profile data such as users’ name, email address, occupation, and age could have been exposed to developers, even if their account settings were set to private. Some apps could also have accessed profile data that had been shared with specific users, but not shared publicly.
Google said that the data leak did not expose users’ financial data, passwords or other sensitive information that is frequently used in identity theft.
Google discovered this new data leak as part of its standard testing procedure and says there is “no evidence that the app developers that inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused.” Google says it has notified users and enterprise customers who were impacted by the data leak.
“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 for its business apps wrote. “We have always taken this seriously, and we continue to invest in our privacy programs.” Google says it still plans to continue operating Google+ only as an enterprise product for companies that subscribe to its G Suite service.
What does this mean for Google Plus users?
Users should start to phase out and discontinue use and remove any links that are linked to websites or other social media platforms.
One Social Media publishing site, Hootsuite, has announced that after January 28th, 2019 they will no longer support Google+. Google+ will be removed completely from Hootusite on February 28th, 2019. If a Hootsuite user had been logging in via Google+, you will need to update you Hootsuite login information with a new email and password before February to continue being able to access your account.
It is probable that others Social Media managing sites will follow suite.
As of now no exact closure date has been given however in October, Google did say it would be a process drawn out over six to nine months.
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