2011-07-26

Google Never Said "Real Names" For Google+

I wrote this on many postings I found on Google+. People saying that accounts are deleted, because they use fake names. Google never said that directly. It's the "unnatural names" and obviously fake names they are hunting for.

Even worse is the news coverage on this issue. Even sites like Cnet.com interpreted this wrong. In addition, there is no way for Google to verify your name, if you never bought something over such an account. And there is no verification process in general, like sending official documents to Google.

Robert Scoble talked to Google's VP Vic Gundotra an he made clear, why accounts get locked:
"He says it isn't about real names. He says he isn't using his legal name here. He says, instead, it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like "god" or worse."
There you have it.
The real problem is that it looks like the automatically initiated shut down of an account, if too many people report your profile. You have enemies on the net? Well kiss you profile good-bye. Sure, you can let your account get reactivated, but that's not as easy as it sounds. There must be done something. And apparently Google will handle this issue more carefully. And even better, they will integrate a way to use Pseudonyms, too. And that is very important for privacy and security for users. You should not care about a company like Google having your real name. But you should care about every weirdo on the Internet knowing it.
Head over to the original posting on Google+ to read more.

[via Google+ Robert Scoble]
Enhanced by Zemanta