The Mountain View company had initially thought of not disclosing the flaw, but a Wall Street Journal investigation forced it to take drastic countermeasures
Google+ closes. Launched in June 2011 as yet another attempt by Big G to create an alternative social network to Facebook, Google Plus has always struggled to find an identity and, above all, a loyal user base that would allow the platform to grow “organically” and thus represent a viable alternative to other social networks.
The reasons that led to the closure of Google Plus, however, are not related to its lack of success. On the contrary: Google was forced to close its doors because of a serious security flaw that, for three years, had put in danger the personal data of more than half a million members of the platform. Even if the flaw had been solved last March, Google had initially preferred not to reveal anything, so as not to create fear among users: according to Big G technicians and experts, in fact, no one would have taken advantage of the vulnerability and, therefore, stolen users’ data. An investigation by the Wall Street Journal, however, has brought out the truth, forcing Google to take drastic measures.
Why Google Plus closes
Specifically, the flaw would have affected the way users’ data is shared with third-party apps and extensions. The APIs created by Google developers in the past years, in fact, are more and more complex to keep updated and in step with the times, thus leaving room for very dangerous flaws and vulnerabilities – such as the one that led to the closure of Google+ – capable of endangering users’ personal information. This, combined with the lack of success of Google Plus, has led the Mountain View company to permanently close the doors of its social platform.
Google’s countermeasures
Of course, Google has not been idle. In addition to fixing the flaw back in March 2018, the company created by Page and Brin kicked off Project Strobe, a new initiative aimed at tightening users’ control over their personal data even more. Once in place, the initiative will allow Google subscribers to choose whether a third-party app or extension can access the information in their profile and, more importantly, what type of information it can access. In addition, Google has decided to limit access to certain types of data such as call logs, SMS and email messages.