Google+ Shuts Online Predators' Accounts In Response to Consumer Watchdog Letter

While many of us just block, and steer clear of the smut on Google+, some of us actively fight to end it! We may not win the war, but each battle won saves countless children. 

In a letter to CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Director John M. Simpson wrote:

"Clearly you can police your network when you want to do so. Consumer Watchdog calls on you to continue such necessary efforts.  However, as explained below you have still failed to address a fundamental design flaw in Google+ that violates users' privacy and Consumer Watchdog urges you to remedy this situation immediately."

In December Consumer Watchdog wrote Google complaining that in an apparent quest to grow the user base as rapidly as possible, Google+ had been allowed to become a virtual playground for online predators and explicit sexual content.  

The whistleblower's report listed and gave links to seven of the most egregiously salacious Google+ accounts as examples including one user who described himself like this:

"Nice daddy or older brother type who loves all things pervy… will share pics but not publicly—been deleted before! 38 now and looking to chat and share pics with any gay guys (or straight or bi) that are into it. Any age is cool with me—who am I to tell you you're too young? Right? Anyhow, I will share more photos as I go and will be on messenger as time allows! Hope to visit with you all soon!"

This user's Circles also included over 100 boys. Many of the images were sexualized or nude images of children -- several who appeared to be under the age of 10 or even toddlers.

When the study was sent, Google+ offered several Communities in which minors (or even adults posing as minors) could openly advertise the trading of sexually explicit images and photographs of each other – a blatant violation of Google's User Content & Conduct Policy.   Google+ had several sexually explicit Communities specifically focused on minors and teens including "Horny Teens," "Horny Teen Chat," "Horny Teen Talk" and more.  In many of these Communities sexually explicit content focused on teens was not only tolerated, but actively encouraged. The community guidelines for the Horny Teens Community for instance read:

"About this community: Welcome to a community created for all the horny teens that need someone else. Explicit content may be present and is recommended and welcome here, [emphasis added] please just enjoy yourselves and let me know if there is anything I can do to make your experience better. ;)"

"Thankfully these accounts have been deleted.  Without a doubt you have the resources to continue to monitor the network and remove inappropriate material," wrote Simpson. "When it was called to your attention, you did so. Now Google must understand that part of the responsibility of the operator of a social network is to proactively monitor its content.  Consumer Watchdog calls on you to continue that necessary effort.  However, doing that is not enough.  You must address a fundamental design flaw in Google+ that compromises users' privacy."

While I fully support Consumer Watchdog's desire to protect children from predators, I do not agree with their desire to make Google+ more Facebook in design.  It is an impossible task to round up or close out every person from our life who we do not wish to associate with. We cannot design private highways for sex offenders, no matter how we wish we could.  

Simpson wrote to Page and Schmidt, "A user is forced to be publicly associated with someone with whom they do not wish to be associated.  For example, both of you are in my Circles and I rather suspect you'd prefer not to be. This is a fundamental privacy flaw and must be fixed.  People must have the right to choose with whom they are associated."

I would prefer for Google+ to work with we, the Google+ users in a cooperative way to ensure that our social media society remains as safe as virtually possible. We must give our citizens the skills and tools they need to effectively protect themselves and those who they love. 

The virtual world exploding is the matrix of our lives. We must connect traditional values, with new technology. The digital world is no longer a place for gaming and fantasy only. The digital world is the real world. It will not be long, until we each have our own avatar, and are walking online, into virtual stores and parties. Embrace open social technology without restricting and closing us off.  

Read Consumer Watchdog's December letter to Google here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrgoogle121713.pdf

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Selfies are Uncool & Fear of Data Sharing Rose Significantly in Last Two Years

McCann's 'Truth About Privacy' Study Also Finds Concerns About Bullying Are Shifting Social Media Behavior Among Youth

'Youth migration' patterns also underscore what's cool/not cool in social media

U.S. consumer attitudes and behavior related both to data sharing and social mediaoversharing have shifted significantly just within the last two years, according to a newly released "Truth About Privacy" study conducted by McCann Worldgroup. This "pendulum swing" is occurring across the board generationally, but is most pronounced among teens, whose "migration" across social media channels reflects growing concerns about bullying in addition to evolving opinions about what's cool or not.

The new quantitative study by McCann Truth Central, McCann Worldgroup's consumer intelligence unit, follows up on a similar report the agency conducted in 2011.  The latest wave of quantitative research was conducted in November 2013 with 1,100 U.S. consumers (aged 18+), and supplemented qualitatively with five group discussions with U.S. consumers aged 16-60 years old.

McCann Truth Central's latest wave of research found the following striking changes over the last two years:

• The #1 privacy fear that increased significantly since 2011 is that the government will use people's personal data against them in some way.
• Companies considered to be the greatest threat and that are the least trusted with data are the Silicon Valley companies, such as Google and Facebook.
• What did not change, however, is that banks are still the most trusted institution when it comes to using sensitive personal information properly.

In a surprising twist, this latest study has also uncovered new concerns, a kind of "privacy backlash," that has much more to do with a new consumer etiquette around what and how to share online.  "Selfie," for example, may be 2013's dictionary word of the year, but just under half of American under 34 say selfies are not cool. Similarly, reflecting that this is not just a young generational trend, 77% of people over the age of 35 consider posting frequent selfies on Instagram to be "uncool."

"We found evidence of a new trend towards being more selective and exclusive when it comes to sharing, even among the teenage generation," said Nadia Tuma, Deputy Director, McCann Truth Central. "As one of our young people said, 'the pendulum is swinging in the direction of more privacy.' This may explain why young people are moving from Facebook to Snapchat. It is becoming cooler to be a bit mysterious, like not being very searchable on Google."

"With social networks taking on a more dominant role in our lives, we face a myriad of potential social pitfalls," said Laura Simpson, Global Director, McCann Truth Central.  "Our findings point to new rules for navigating a world where privacy and publicity collide. The challenge lies in maintaining a delicate balance between making yourself seem interesting without looking vain."

Concerns about privacy, including bullying as a related aspect, are having a marked effect on youth migration patterns with regard to social media. Given the permanence of texts, tweets and status updates, bullying is changing the way people behave online. For example, youth in the survey explained their migration from Facebook to Snapchat as being partly attributed to greater privacy (and therefore less bullying).

But bullying is only one of what might be called "The 4 B's" that are defining currently accepted sharing and privacy practices with regard to social media. In addition to Bullying, these include avoiding Boring, Boasting and Begging behaviors as well.

BORING:

• Only 34% of people think posting routine activities as status updates on Facebook is COOL
• On the other hand, 64% of people think the less personal approach of frequently posting silly or funny articles on Facebook is COOL

BOASTING:

• Only 35% of people think frequently "checking in" your location on Foursquare is COOL
• 63% of people think having a personal style blog that chronicles your daily outfits is UNCOOL

BEGGING:

• 73% of people think adding people you don't know as LinkedIn connections is UNCOOL
• 72% of people think adding people you don't know as Facebook friends is UNCOOL
• 63% of people think defriending people who are not your "real" friends on Facebook is COOL

Brands can also fall afoul to these new rules. As the world of marketing continues to embrace applications related to data and social media, these new McCann Truth Central findings about the required balance between privacy and publicity extend to how American consumers view brand marketing behavior as well. Given these new rules, brands must be careful not to over-step the mark, as some of their actions could be considered "bullying" by some consumers:

• 66% of people think a brand using your content on their social media site without your permission is UNCOOL
• 57% of people think a brand calling you with an automated personalized message is UNCOOL

SOURCE McCann Worldgroup