Google Exposed User Data—and Didn’t Say a Word: WSJ

Last spring, Google investigators discovered a massive data breach concerning the information of more than 490,000 users on the Google + network. But rather than disclose that breach to the public, the company kept it secret to avoid regulatory scrutiny and harm to its reputation, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal. The Journal notes that a software bug gave outside developers possible access to unauthorized profile data between 2015 and March 2018, when the company finally found and resolved the issue. A memo sent by the company’s legal and policy staff to top Google executives cautioned that the disclosure could spark “immediate regulatory interest” and invite comparisons to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. Google reportedly plans to announce that it will shut down all consumer functionality of the Google + network, effectively shuttering the social-networking platform that was once created to rival Facebook. A representative defended Google’s secrecy to the Journal, noting that “Whenever user data may have been affected, we go beyond our legal requirements and apply several criteria focused on our users in determining whether to provide notice.”