Only two months after disclosing a potential data leak which forced them to announce the impending closure of their social network, Google has announced a second potential data leak which has forced their hand into bringing the closure date forward.
The original data leak potentially gave access to user data to third-party developers, though at the time Google said they didn’t believe any data had been accessed.
This second potential data leak is in the same vein as the first, with the new vulnerability potentially exposing profile information including users name, email address, occupation, and age to developers, even if their account was set to private. Further, Apps also had access to profile data which was private, if it was shared with another Google+ user, even if it was not shared publicly.
The potential leak of data could have affected approximately 52 and a half million users of Google+.
The original announcement back in October gave Google+ until August 2019, at which point is would be shut down for consumers. After this new announcement today though, Google has said the social network will end in April 2019, with Google+ API access to be shutdown in 90 days.
While Google will be closing the consumer side of Google+ in April, the service will live on for enterprise customers who utilise the social networks for their staff.
Alas Google+ we barely knew you (which of course is the problem ; )
Google made too many mis-steps in their war against Arsepage and Twaddle. So no-one wanted to use or be seen using G+
Add in the vulnerabilities found, and Google now wants G+ to die. Except for the Bu$ine$$e$ who want to Pay to $tay.