source: The Guardian
published: 13 October 2018
This March, as Facebook was coming under global scrutiny over the harvesting of personal data for Cambridge Analytica
, Google discovered a skeleton in its own closet: a bug in the API for Google+ had been allowing third-party app developers to access the data not just of users who had granted permission, but of their friends.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s almost exactly the scenario that got Mark Zuckerberg dragged in front of the US Congress. The parallel was not lost on Google, and the company chose not to disclose the data leak, the Wall Street Journal revealed Monday, in order to avoid the public relations headache and potential regulatory enforcement.
Disclosure will likely result “in us coming into the spotlight alongside or even instead of Facebook despite having stayed under the radar throughout the Cambridge Analytica scandal”, Google policy and legal officials wrote in a memo obtained by the Journal. It “almost guarantees Sundar will testify before Congress”, the memo said, referring to the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai. The disclosure would also invite “immediate regulatory interest”.
Shortly after the story was published, Google announced that it will shut down consumer access to Google+ and improve privacy protections for third-party applications.
In a blog post about the shutdown, Google disclosed the data leak
, which it said potentially affected up to 500,000 accounts. Up to 438 different third-party applications may have had access to private information due to the bug, but Google apparently has no way of knowing whether they did because it only maintains logs of API use for two weeks.
Read More click here >
“We are very grateful for the ongoing support provided by the First Stop design team. There is no way we would have been able to provide the level of online resources that we do without their input and generosity.
Kushi Amlak-Sakhu
4WardEverUK
“Tippa, Zinzi and Larry are amazing. Their support means that with very limited time to spend managing our website, I can rely on their support packages to help keep our website updated, secure and compliant”
Marcia Lewinson
WAITS Action
“First Stop Web Design have provided backup support to the National Memorial Family Fund ever since its inception in 2015. We are hugely grateful for their ongoing support, assistance and technical advice”
Jaki Miller
Memorial Family Fund
First Stop Web Design is a Community Collective - Established in 2004 : Some rights reserved - Supported By Naphtali & Associates
Initial Assessment | Customer Tutorials | Privacy & Policies | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions