Does privacy actually exist online?
This month, on November 11, 2013, Google is set to make a major change to their Terms of Service that will allow the company to use the user name and profile pictures of its Google Plus account members in reviews, advertising, and “other commercial contexts.” This, coupled with Facebook’s recent announcement that they are removing a setting that previously allowed users to be undiscoverable through their Graph Search, raises the question…does privacy actually exist online?
In the case of Google, the company says it plans to only share user names and profile photos in conjunction with content users have chosen to help curate. For example, they may use the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery in an ad that the bakery runs through Google, or your rating of an album on your favorite band’s Google Play page may she shared with those in your Google Plus circles. Although users will be able to opt out and control whether their image and name appear in ads via the Shared Endorsements setting, this is a major change for the platform that puts it more closely in line with Facebook’s much scrutinized privacy policies. It’s also a move that is likely to perturb users who flocked to Google from Facebook because of privacy concerns and raises the question of what Google may be planning for the future.
Not to be outdone, Facebook’s announcement that everyone will be searchable after the removal of an old privacy setting is raising many eyebrows—and rightfully so. “We’re removing the setting because it isn’t as useful as it was before,” read an announcement from Facebook when I recently logged in to my personal account. So, naturally, choosing to remove the setting altogether is better than attempting to improve this tool which would enable account holders to control who can view their profiles? Apparently so.
Both companies seem to be using the argument that users are in control of what they share, and therefore are presenting an implied endorsement of sorts that they
In the case of Google, the company says it plans to only share user names and profile photos in conjunction with content users have chosen to help curate. For example, they may use the +1 you gave your favorite local bakery in an ad that the bakery runs through Google, or your rating of an album on your favorite band’s Google Play page may she shared with those in your Google Plus circles. Although users will be able to opt out and control whether their image and name appear in ads via the Shared Endorsements setting, this is a major change for the platform that puts it more closely in line with Facebook’s much scrutinized privacy policies. It’s also a move that is likely to perturb users who flocked to Google from Facebook because of privacy concerns and raises the question of what Google may be planning for the future.
Not to be outdone, Facebook’s announcement that everyone will be searchable after the removal of an old privacy setting is raising many eyebrows—and rightfully so. “We’re removing the setting because it isn’t as useful as it was before,” read an announcement from Facebook when I recently logged in to my personal account. So, naturally, choosing to remove the setting altogether is better than attempting to improve this tool which would enable account holders to control who can view their profiles? Apparently so.
Both companies seem to be using the argument that users are in control of what they share, and therefore are presenting an implied endorsement of sorts that they