6 ms·

Can anybody who has a private Google profile describe what they use it for and why?

Jebdm 16y ago
I'm curious too, though I think the whole point of this change is that a private Google profile is essentially useless.
ern 16y ago
I created one, while I was trying out Buzz. I don't like putting my personal details out on the web for no reason, so I kept details out of my profile, and it stayed private. When I saw this message yesterday, I saved the few "Buzzes" I made last year, and deleted my profile.
ZeroGravitas 16y ago
I was pressured/forced at various times to create one in order to use Google services. I can't remember the details, but I do remember feeling annoyed at Google that it wasn't 100% clear how to opt out or hide things to the maximum amount, made worse by the fact that this un-asked-for task was between me and trying to achieve my original intent. Since I didn't actually want one, a private one, which was effectively empty, was the next best thing.
- OstiaAntica 16y ago
  My experience as well. Google strong-arms heavy users into its various social projects.
Stormbringer 16y ago
It should be the reverse, private should be the default, and public should be the eyebrow raising exception. How nice it is of Google to decide by fiat to impose their standard on everybody else without consultatin (I know Eric Schmidt is on record as saying that he doesn't believe in privacy, here we have a prime example). However, at least they are handling this better than the way Facebook does. If this was Facebook they would have (a) just done it without giving advance warning and (b) would have flipped everyone who was private over to public. At least Google is deleting the accounts rather than outright exposing the info.
- saurik 16y ago
  I think the argument here is: if you are going to have a private profile, you may as well simply not have a profile. Like, why did you spend the time to fill in a bunch of details into Google Profile just to mark it "private"?
  - agentultra 16y ago
    Perhaps so you could share it explicitly with people you've vetted and trust with your information?
    - Kylekramer 16y ago
      But there is no mechanism to share it explicitly with people you vetted. This isn't Facebook, there aren't friends with various levels of permission and a public version. You could do that by just showing your screen to your vetted people, though, I suppose.
      - jamesgeck0 16y ago
        (a) There are friends with various levels of permission. Certain fields on the profile can be set to be visible only to certain groups of contacts. (b) Upon noting (a), I filled out a private profile in anticipation that Google would be rolling out further mechanisms to share private profiles with certain contact groups.
- ern 16y ago
  At least Google is deleting the accounts rather than outright exposing the info. As far as I can tell, they are deleting profiles, not accounts. "Deleting your public profile won't delete your Google Account." http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98083 http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&#...
- griftah 16y ago
  World would be a very sad place if everybody were afraid to do anything publicly.
porkbird 16y ago
I have a google account without a google public profile. I use it to access google reader and google wave (both are services used by my friends), as well as customizing google search behavior. I need to expose neither my real name nor my contacts information.
- tonfa 16y ago
  So you don't have a Google profile at all (neither private nor public). Nothing will change for you.
bpd1069 16y ago
I used it regularly to 'buzz' interesting articles for myself and for my daughter. Its a shame that I am forced to delete my private profile, and loose my ability to use 'buzz'. We will have to strictly rely on news reader to share information between ourselves. Not everyone wants or needs to be in social network where they do not control their own privacy. Google should stop chasing facebook and focus on keeping their search relevant.
- robotron 16y ago
  I don't really see where this post says private profiles are the same thing as private buzz posts.
rezrovs 16y ago
I created one because when people google your name it will return as the very first result. This makes it quite useful to have all of the information that you want to be found available first instead of the random posts from 5 years ago that no matter how hard you try will always float near the top of the results.

Jebdm 16y ago

I'm curious too, though I think the whole point of this change is that a private Google profile is essentially useless.

ern 16y ago

I created one, while I was trying out Buzz. I don't like putting my personal details out on the web for no reason, so I kept details out of my profile, and it stayed private. When I saw this message yesterday, I saved the few "Buzzes" I made last year, and deleted my profile.

ZeroGravitas 16y ago

I was pressured/forced at various times to create one in order to use Google services. I can't remember the details, but I do remember feeling annoyed at Google that it wasn't 100% clear how to opt out or hide things to the maximum amount, made worse by the fact that this un-asked-for task was between me and trying to achieve my original intent. Since I didn't actually want one, a private one, which was effectively empty, was the next best thing.

OstiaAntica 16y ago
My experience as well. Google strong-arms heavy users into its various social projects.

Stormbringer 16y ago

It should be the reverse, private should be the default, and public should be the eyebrow raising exception. How nice it is of Google to decide by fiat to impose their standard on everybody else without consultatin (I know Eric Schmidt is on record as saying that he doesn't believe in privacy, here we have a prime example). However, at least they are handling this better than the way Facebook does. If this was Facebook they would have (a) just done it without giving advance warning and (b) would have flipped everyone who was private over to public. At least Google is deleting the accounts rather than outright exposing the info.

saurik 16y ago
I think the argument here is: if you are going to have a private profile, you may as well simply not have a profile. Like, why did you spend the time to fill in a bunch of details into Google Profile just to mark it "private"?
- agentultra 16y ago
  Perhaps so you could share it explicitly with people you've vetted and trust with your information?
  - Kylekramer 16y ago
    But there is no mechanism to share it explicitly with people you vetted. This isn't Facebook, there aren't friends with various levels of permission and a public version. You could do that by just showing your screen to your vetted people, though, I suppose.
    - jamesgeck0 16y ago
      (a) There are friends with various levels of permission. Certain fields on the profile can be set to be visible only to certain groups of contacts. (b) Upon noting (a), I filled out a private profile in anticipation that Google would be rolling out further mechanisms to share private profiles with certain contact groups.
ern 16y ago
At least Google is deleting the accounts rather than outright exposing the info. As far as I can tell, they are deleting profiles, not accounts. "Deleting your public profile won't delete your Google Account." http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98083 http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&#...
griftah 16y ago
World would be a very sad place if everybody were afraid to do anything publicly.

porkbird 16y ago

I have a google account without a google public profile. I use it to access google reader and google wave (both are services used by my friends), as well as customizing google search behavior. I need to expose neither my real name nor my contacts information.

tonfa 16y ago
So you don't have a Google profile at all (neither private nor public). Nothing will change for you.

bpd1069 16y ago

I used it regularly to 'buzz' interesting articles for myself and for my daughter. Its a shame that I am forced to delete my private profile, and loose my ability to use 'buzz'. We will have to strictly rely on news reader to share information between ourselves. Not everyone wants or needs to be in social network where they do not control their own privacy. Google should stop chasing facebook and focus on keeping their search relevant.

robotron 16y ago
I don't really see where this post says private profiles are the same thing as private buzz posts.

rezrovs 16y ago

I created one because when people google your name it will return as the very first result. This makes it quite useful to have all of the information that you want to be found available first instead of the random posts from 5 years ago that no matter how hard you try will always float near the top of the results.