Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Bans Online Anonymity While Patenting It

Posted by Soulskill on from the best-of-both-worlds dept.

theodp writes "'It's important to use your common name,' Google explains in its Google+ ground rules, 'so that the people you want to connect with can find you.' Using a 'secondary online identity,' the search giant adds, is a big Google+ no-no. 'There are lots of places where you can be anonymous online,' Betanews' Joe Wilcox notes. 'Google+ isn't one of them.' Got it. But if online anonymity is so evil, then what's the deal with Google's newly-awarded patent for Social Computing Personas for Protecting Identity in Online Social Interactions? 'When users reveal their identities on the internet,' Google explained to the USPTO in its patent application, 'it leaves them more vulnerable to stalking, identity theft and harassment.' So what's Google's solution? Providing anonymity to social networking users via an 'alter ego' and/or 'anonymous identity.' So does Google now believe that there's a genuine 'risk of disclosing a user's real identity'? Or is this just a case of Google's left hand not knowing what its right hand is patenting?"

6 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Prior Art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I claim it.

  2. Re:This BANS others from OFFERING anonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    New Account, Google Bashing... You forgot your Visual Studio plug.

  3. real identity by skyggen · · Score: 5, Funny

    How can they know who the real me is when I can even answer that question without having a quorum among myself.

  4. Re:This BANS others from OFFERING anonymity by discord5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You cycle through sockpuppet accounts faster than a d&d party through cheetos. Have you tried being less obvious about it, or does your employer not offer you that kind of training?

  5. Re:Oh, Google is fine with anonymity... by denis-The-menace · · Score: 3, Funny

    This way, when you commit a thought crime they know that it's you and not someone who got your password.

    --
    Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
  6. Re:Sigh.. by jamstar7 · · Score: 3, Funny

    On IRC nobody knew Beth14 a Detective with the NYPD Vice Squad..

    Ah, the heady early days of the Internet, where men were men, so were most of the women, and those horny 14 year old virgins wanting to come out to my house to fuck me stupid were FBI agents wanting a quick and dirty arrest...

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.