Google+ to Shutter After Reports of Exposed User Data

Google announced Monday it would slowly shut down Google+, the search giant's long-struggling social network, after finding a software bug that divulged the private data of as many as 500,000 users to hundreds of third-party applications, according to a company blog post. The company fixed the flaw in March and didn't find any evidence that developers misused users' personal information.
The platform currently has "low usage and engagement" as 90% of sessions last under five seconds, per the blog post. Google will maintain the service for organizations that use the platform for employee communications, and the company said it would continue to develop new features for these users.
Google discovered the security flaw last spring, but didn't disclose the finding due to fears of regulatory scrutiny and damage to its reputation, unnamed sources told The Wall Street Journal. The company said in the blog post that it's clamping down on third-party access to user data on Android smartphones and Gmail. Google won't let third-party developers receive call log and SMS permissions on Android devices, and contact interaction data will no longer be available from the Android Contacts API.

Read more: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/google-to-shutter-after-reports-of-exposed-user-data/539233/

Original source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com

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