Topic: Google suspends accounts in pseudonym clampdown

[Simon]

Google has come under fire from users of its Google+ social-networking service, after subscribers were kicked off for using pseudonyms.

The social network launched with some fanfare in June and has already garnered 20 million users. However, the service has suffered teething problems during its beta testing, and the latest round of criticism will do little to boost confidence.

Google said it wants users to use real names on the network, but some users claim they are better known to friends, family and colleagues by a longterm nickname, which they believe should count as a real name.

Among the loudest complaints were those from a former Google worker, Kirrily Robert, whose account was suspended after her “Skud” nickname fell foul of Google's user policy.

“Because I knew Google’s policies pretty well (as much as anyone can, when they’re so unclear), I knew I was at risk of my account being suspended,” she wrote in a blog post.

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/368857/google-suspends-accounts-in-pseudonym-clampdown

[Rik]

Google wants the real you...  ':|

[GillE]

People will go elsewhere.  Google needs to wake up and realise that it is part of the internet, not the whole internet.

[Rik]

What, and admit their corporate ego got the better of them?

[Simon]

More...

A security expert has criticised Google's stance on pseudonyms on its social network, claiming the hard line will damage privacy.

Google+ has been closing down accounts where people were using false names because it is against the company's community standards.

According to Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos, the policy erodes privacy and shows Google to be acting like an official identity authority.

“By requiring people to only use their real names, unless they just happen to be a celebrity, they have eliminated the ability for people to be private in any meaningful way,” he said in a Sophos blog post.

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/368908/security-expert-pans-google-pseudonym-policy

[Rik]

Avoid Google, you know it makes sense.

[Simon]

I try.