Google+ for consumers is officially being killed after privacy breach

Chances are high you’ve probably heard of Google+ before but never actually used the service. However, for the unfamiliar, Google+ is (or was) Google’s social media network that launched in 2011 to try to compete with Facebook but largely failed.

According to a report published today by the Wall Street Journal, Google discovered a user data breach in Google+ last spring but chose not to disclose the issue.

Third-party developers between 2015 and March of 2018 were able to access “private Google+ profile data.” However, Google claims they found “no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and that any profile data was misused.”

“The profile data that was exposed included full names, email addresses, birth dates, gender, profile photos, places lived, occupation and relationship status; it didn’t include phone numbers, email messages, timeline posts, direct messages or any other type of communication data.” —WSJ

In response, Google plans to shut down the social network for consumers. Google+ will remain available for enterprise clients that need an internal social network, but the consumer app will be unavailable starting in August of next year after a 10-month wind-down period.

“This review crystallized what we’ve known for a while: that while our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps. The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.” —Google

Source: Wall Street Journal, Google