• About Geek Beat
  • Newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Login
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Geek Beat

One of the world’s most recognizable technology news brands, delivering daily tech news, tips, and reviews.

  • News
    • Apple
    • CES
    • Editor’s Choice
    • Google
    • How To’s
    • Microsoft
    • Music
    • Mobility
    • NABShow
    • Photography
  • Episodes
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Connect With Us
    • Chat Rooms
    • DropCams
    • Geek Beat Live!
    • Product Review Submissions
Home > News > Google Allows Pseudonyms on Google+, Plans New Privacy Policy
Google Privacy Policy Update

Google Allows Pseudonyms on Google+, Plans New Privacy Policy

January 25, 2012 by Dexter

Google Privacy Policy Update

New Google Privacy Policy

No stranger to privacy issues, Google has announced changes to its privacy policy on the Official Google Blog. What the changes boil down to is that you’ll be treated as a single unique individual user across most of Google’s properties, such as Google+, Gmail, Google Reader, Google Maps, etc. Data will be shared within Google between these different services in order to streamline your experience, increase the amount of things they can do with the data, and open up new service opportunities for them.

This news has upset a lot of people and pleased a lot of others for various reasons. An important thing to keep in mind is that Google already has all this information. They’re not giving it to anyone outside the company.

This doesn’t mean there’s no cause for concern. They’ll be using the data in different ways, and it remains to be seen if all of those ways will be welcome. I am looking forward to the change, due out on March 1st, but I also expect to see some impressive fallout from it.

Here’s a video Google included in their writeup covering the changes and what to expect.

Notable services that will not be part of the data sharing include Google Books and the Chrome browser.

Google+ Pseudonyms

The other big news out of Google is a change in their handling of the pseudonym issue on Google+. As you may recall, many people were upset with Google’s policy of ‘common names only,’ with reasons ranging from vanity or branding to actual safety concerns.

Google’s taking steps to help with this issue by rolling out the first in a series of changes in pseudonym handling. According to Google VP of Product Bradley Horowitz,

The vast majority of users sail through our signup process — in fact, only about 0.1% submit name appeals.

When we analyze the set of all name appeals on Google+, we find that they generally fall into three major categories:
– The majority (60%) of these users want to simply add nicknames. 
– About 20% of appeals are actually businesses (who are inadvertently trying to set up their business as a Profile, rather than using Google+ Pages which were intended for this purpose.) 
– And the remaining 20% would either prefer to use a pseudonym or another unconventional name. 

It’s important to note that as of their current implementation of pseudonyms, you can’t show the pseudonym instead of your common name. It can be shown with your common name, but can’t replace it entirely. It’s not clear whether that will become an option in the future.

Not all profiles have pseudonyms activated yet. To see if yours does and set one if you want one, edit your profile and click on your name to edit it. Showing more options will reveal the pseudonym options, if you have them. If you don’t, hang tight for a few days while they continue to roll the feature out.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: browser, Chrome, Google, privacy, youtube

Popular Posts

  • How To Keep A Constant In Excel And Other Spreadsheets by Scott Ellis | posted on April 19, 2012 | under News, Tutorial
  • How to Use Your Own Router with AT&T U-verse by Chris Bramble | posted on February 17, 2014 | under News, Tutorial
  • Complete Sci-Fi Spaceship Size Comparison Chart by giovanni | posted on September 19, 2014 | under News
  • How Much Money Will Fit in a Briefcase? by John P. | posted on September 26, 2013 | under Episodes
  • How To Add Sound and Voice to Your Photos by giovanni | posted on July 22, 2013 | under Episodes
  • How to Access Advanced Boot Options in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 by Robert Albury | posted on September 10, 2014 | under Tutorial
  • How to Build a Dust Collector (with Photos and Video!) by John P. | posted on May 30, 2016 | under Tutorial
  • A Tour of QNAP’s Available Utility Apps by Benjamin J. Roethig | posted on April 4, 2014 | under Tutorial
  • Tutorial: Adding a Networked Printer with QNAP by Benjamin J. Roethig | posted on July 7, 2014 | under Tutorial
  • How to Set Up a Plex Server on a QNAP NAS by Dexter | posted on April 18, 2014 | under Tutorial

Recent Posts

  • Go Mic Mobile Wireless System for Mobile Filmmakers
  • A RAY OF LIGHT
  • Keep Devices Charged Anywhere in the World with the Twist Plus World Charging Station
  • Final Leaked iPhone 7 Details Before The Big Event
  • Should Snapchat Be A Part of Your Digital Strategy?

Recent Comments

  • Ricardo Garza on Streambox Announces 360 Live Video Streaming to YouTube
  • Sunbya on Review: Blue Lola Headphones bring unparalleled quality
  • Jay Anderson on CES2016 – Autel Robotics X-Star Quadcopters
  • Scott Ellis on CES2016 – The Parrot DISCO – The Worlds First Fixed Wing Consumer Drone
  • Ricardo Garza on CES2016 – The Parrot DISCO – The Worlds First Fixed Wing Consumer Drone

Tags

3D Amazon Apple apps audio bluetooth business CE Line Shows 2013 CES computers fitness gadgets games gaming geek geek beat GeekBeat geek house Google health how-to ios john p. kickstarter Microsoft mobile Mobility Music nabshow new building Other photography Reviews robots Samsung social media speakers storage tech technology travel Tutorial vehicles video vlog

Copyright © 2021 · Geek Media on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in