Google+ to bin private profiles on 31 July

Google has updated its Google+ privacy policy, warning users that they will have to make their profiles public or risk them being deleted.

The web firm feels that allowing people to keep profiles private will limit the usefulness of the social networking service, and has taken the decision to make everyone searchable.

"We believe that using Google profiles to help people find and connect with you online is how the product is best used. Private profiles don't allow this, so we have decided to require all profiles to be public," the company said on the Google+ site.

"Keep in mind that your full name and gender are the only required information that will be displayed on your profile; you'll be able to edit or remove any other information that you don't want to share."

Google warned that people who keep their profiles private will have them deleted on 31 July.

Many who signed up to Google+ are unlikely to leave simply because they have to make their profile public, but it's a strange decision and takes privacy controls out of the hands of users at a time of heightened sensitivity about such matters. 

Google already has a ridiculously complicated privacy policy for the Google+ Android app, which could see people unwittingly agreeing to allow their voice and location data to be collected.

Google's previous high-profile privacy blunders could also deter some from joining its social network.

The ill-fated Google Buzz was heavily criticised on launch for not allowing enough control over personal details.

Similarly, Google accidentally collected Wi-Fi data when it was mapping the world for its Street View service, and was accused of violating the rights of European and US citizens.

Google had a chance to differentiate its social network from Facebook, which has been heavily criticised for various user privacy blunders, but it seems rather depressingly that the search firm is heading in the same direction.

06 Jul 2011