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Zuckerberg Quits Google+ Over Privacy Concerns

ianpm writes "Mark Zuckerberg has decided to leave Google's new social network because he 'doesn't want to be tracked.' In other news, the Internet's irony meter has just exploded. Robert Scoble is now the most followed person on Google+ according to The Inquirer." Most of the article is about the rankings of various G+ users with big followings. I currently have a measly 400 or so. Guess I'll never be as cool as MySpace's Tom.

23 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by Compaqt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Steve Ballmer says he doesn't want to a buy an iPhone over proprietary software concerns.

    Timothy Geithner is worried that we're spending too much on the FDIC program.

    And Fox News is banning MSNBC from their studios over 'bias'.

    --
    I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
    1. Re:In other news... by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or that Slashdot slams any other website for putting up titles that are absolute lies just just to get clicks...
      I mean this is really disgusting and Slashdot should be absolutely ashamed!
      FTFA
      "The changes were revealed on the Google+ account belonging to the Social Statistics compiler Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten. He explained that some Google+ members could no longer be tracked as they had further closed off their accounts on Tuesday. Interesting that Zuckerberg, the man so happy to gather and share so much of everyone else's data on Facebook, is suddenly so protective over his own."

      You have lies, damn lies, statistics and then Slashdot headlines.
      Really guys that is so sad.

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  2. He Still Shows Up in My "dbags" Circle by eldavojohn · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's odd he's off the top of the list, maybe given special status or I'm following an impostor? Because he's still in my dbag circle ...

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    My work here is dung.
  3. Re:Interesting fact by jDeepbeep · · Score: 4, Informative

    Show photo geo location information in newly uploaded albums and photos.

    Last I checked, this was optional.

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    Reply to That ||
  4. Didn't quit by mother_reincarnated · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article (I know, I must leave now) does NOT say he quit G+. It says that he along with the top Mgmt at Google all seem to have opted for tighter privacy controls overnight. The number of friends and followers can no longer be *tracked*.

    1. Re:Didn't quit by kai_hiwatari · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, his profile is still visible at https://plus.google.com/104560124403688998123/about . Only the details like number of followers, followings etc has been made private.

  5. Misleading headline? by romcabrera · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nowhere it says Zuckerberg closed his account so that he couldn't be tracked.

    1. Re:Misleading headline? by rust627 · · Score: 5, Funny

      he probably thought that accounts cant be cancelled , like facebook..............

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      da da da dum indeed.
  6. The Age of Privacy is over by Frankie70 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A wise man once said this.

    Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over

  7. Re:Interesting fact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, the first is just Google data mining your info to provide better ads. Since this information is only being used by Google, its still private, in the sense that its not publicly available (note that the same will be true of EVERY social networking site by definition: whoever you give information to will have that info. No way to stop that. Google is just being honest and telling you that that info will be used BY THEMy them to provide targeted ads. NOT shared with third parties: only the ads they target you with are.) The third is, as you say, toggle-able, and as for the second, anyone I want to see my picture already knows where I live. So, yeah, not much going on there. As for being indexed by google: facebook indexes everyone too. Its an absolute requirement for social networking. Without being able to search for your friends, no one would ever be able to find them.

    Facebook, on the other hand, has privacy controls deeply buried, which often reset themselves, and up to very recently at least (don't use Facebook apps anymore) didn't work properly with Facebook apps. I'll go with G+, TYVM.

  8. Re:Interesting fact by calmofthestorm · · Score: 5, Informative

    Addressing your bullets:

    1) Facebook also does this with the facebook ads network (on about 1/3 sites on the net). You can prevent this by disabling "instant personalization"
    2) This is an option during signup unchecked by default (at least when I signed up). You opt in, a word Facebook would do well to learn.
    3) Facebook makes profiles searchable on search engines by default as well. You can disable this.

    So...it has the same privacy violations as facebook...not seeing your point.

    --
    93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
  9. Re:Interesting fact by trum4n · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yea, i just unchecked that "i can be tracked" checkbox. I am an active G+ user, and im NOT on google. Are people really this dumb?

  10. Re:Interesting fact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, except FB routinely changes the way things are made private/public, and defaults those settings to 'Wide Open'. They then notify you up to 48 hours later, giving the search crawlers plenty of time to index your stuff.

    I rather prefer Google's method. It seems more honest.

    Also, anyone who didn't foresee Zuck doing this wasn't paying attention.

    1. Sign up for competing service.
    2. Give it an "honest try"
    3. Quit over perceived "problems" that your site doesn't have, or resolved previously.
    4. Profit!

  11. Re:Interesting fact by Serious+Callers+Only · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At least with Facebook I have control over what my information is made public.

    Do you really believe this? You think the company which came up with Beacon and introduced it as on by default has any interest in giving you control over your information? Much as I don't hate Zuckerberg, he and facebook are playing you for a sucker.

    You CAN change what information is public and what you want to give out.

    If you trust Facebook to live up to their promises in this regard (which are pretty flimsy to start with) I have a bridge to sell you. I leave you with a verified quote from Zuckerberg about his users:

    "They trust me — dumb fucks,"

  12. Re:Interestingly... by Godai · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not that its an excuse, but 'everything is open from day 0' is how Facebook was until maybe a year ago. So its still ironic :) You'd have thought Google would have learned that little lesson though from just watching the complaints against how Facebook handled privacy. Also, I thought the whole point of Google+ was that they learned not to make everything public, like they did with Buzz. I guess not.

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    Wood Shavings!
    - Godai
  13. Re:Interesting fact by tripleevenfall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This was obviously a stunt from the get-go. Zuckerberg joined only with the intention of quitting in mock disgust later, in a stunt to protect his media empire, which is all based around collecting and selling personal information.

  14. Re:Interestingly... by Riceballsan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Umm I fail to see the logic in the statements. I opened a Google account yesterday, I shared a picture, it asked me, which circles do you want to share this with, pretty certain on Facebook were I to upload that same picture it would automatically assume everyone on my friends list is free game unless I went much deeper into the settings and tweaked things.

  15. Everyone followed him as a joke. by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And I assumed it was a fake profile.. This is incredibly funny that it really was him.

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    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  16. Mark Can't Spy, Publicity Stunt by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    On Facebook, Mark sees other people's info, and they can't see his.

    On Google+, he set his profile public, and they can all see him, and he can't see all the stuff they set private like he can on Facebook.

    See? Privacy... Concern...

    Unless Mark can be private while at the same time looking into everyone else's dirty little secrets (I wonder exactly how many private nude pictures he's check out late nights at FB...), then it's a concern for him, a... privacy... concern...

    Besides, this is a publicity stunt. He is trying to throw privacy concerns Google's way to make them look just as bad as him. Of course, it could be the biggest FAIL of the year. It'd be like McDonald's calling out Wendy's on obesity concerns.

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    I8-D
  17. Re:Interesting fact by poetmatt · · Score: 3, Informative

    do you read or just spin things? He is saying that it DOESN'T have the same violations by default.

  18. Re:Interesting fact by Skarecrow77 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Facebook, on the other hand, has privacy controls deeply buried, which often reset themselves, and up to very recently at least (don't use Facebook apps anymore) didn't work properly with Facebook apps. I'll go with G+, TYVM.

    This "feature" drives me nuts. More than once, out of the blue, facebook will start emailing me when someone replies to my status or sends me a friend request, even though I've disable that several times. I then have to go through every god damn setting to make sure they haven't randomly changed something else, like "show my posts to the whole fucking world" despite me setting them to "Friends only" very much on purpose.

    I've had to remove every damn bit of information on myself possible just on the off chance that they screw up again, I don't my "dox" public. Facebook no longer has any idea where I live, have lived, what high school I went to, what college I went to, hell I'm not even sure it knows what year I was born. I had to get rid of all of that a long time ago (although in retrospect, I'm think I would have anyway and am glad I did). Anybody who wants to find me on the network better already know somebody else who is a friend of mine.

    As for apps, I years ago uninstalled all the stupid "what transformer are you?" bullshit and haven't installed a single app since I found out just what the hell they had access to. Frightening.

  19. Re:What I don't get... by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 4, Funny

    How the hell does Google get people to make an about face like that?

    Using Facebook makes you feel like a cheap hooker that just took part in a tranny bukake scene for $15.

    Using Google+ makes you feel like a wined and dined princess that finished off the perfect date night with the perfect guy by giving the perfect BJ.

    Sure, in both cases you will have a bit of spunk on your lips, but one situation makes you feel a lot better than the other.

  20. Re:Interesting fact by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just checked and it's off by default. "Show photo geo location information in newly uploaded albums and photos." is what it says so it may very well show her but that doesn't mean it's public.