8 ms·

Tell HN: I'm not comfortable with Google Maps showing all my reviews to everyone

17 points by kbns 3y ago

Anyone can easily follow my whereabouts by looking at my Google reviews. This is a serious privacy risk that will deter users who value their privacy from leaving reviews.

orbz 3y ago
This is the downside of social proof. Your review is less valuable without your identity tied to it. This is why I don’t do any reviews that might identify me.
chrsstrm 3y ago
The whole point of reviews is to inform others on your experience. If you’re uncomfortable with others knowing you’ve been somewhere, why are you giving reviews in the first place?
- m00dy 3y ago
  generally, you review when you have a really bad experience.
  - Pasorrijer 3y ago
    I disagree. I review when I have polarizing experiences (good OR bad), or when I want to show support for a business. I think tying a review to your google account is also good, because anonymity on the internet is generally used by people to say things they wouldn't say in the real world, often in harmful ways.
    - stemlord 3y ago
      >I think tying a review to your google account is also good, because anonymity on the internet is generally used by people to say things they wouldn't say in the real world, often in harmful ways. You're not wrong, but this is also the argument politicians use to strip you of your privacy on behalf of corporations
  - chrsstrm 3y ago
    Generally, no, you don’t. Reviews can absolutely be positive and if you had a good experience that’s just as much motivation to leave a review. But positive or negative, that doesn’t address the issue that reviews are meant to be seen by others. It’s the entire core concept of the process.
  - WillPostForFood 3y ago
    If that was true then reviews would generally be bad, but that doesn't seem to be the case. One example is IMDB (good large dataset) where the average rating is 6.8 (wish I knew the median, but couldn't find that number).
  - nonethewiser 3y ago
    So that others will see it
- stemlord 3y ago
  OP means they want to do so at least semi-anonymously
yuppie_scum 3y ago
I’d say don’t publish Google Maps reviews then. They’re explicitly public.
dbg31415 3y ago
Set up a second account for reviews. Easy. Annoying. But easy. Just use your middle name or a slightly different spelling. I did that when Yelp forced you to use a real name. Nobody wants to be themselves on the internet. Eww.
- WillPostForFood 3y ago
  I did that when Yelp forced you to use a real name TBF, Yelp didn't force anyone to use a real name, they ask for a first and last name. You can change it anytime, no validation on reality. I just changed mine to Ycom Hnews. The only friction is a nag: Yelp is all about real people, real reviews. You can change your name, but keep in mind that thousands of people come to Yelp to find your useful, funny and cool reviews. Changing your name may make it harder for them to find and benefit from your opinionated opinions.
tekla 3y ago
Don't review things then.
- stemlord 3y ago
  I'd like to see what people have to say about local businesses that they wouldn't say with their irl identity, though. If you can't understand why someone wouldn't say certain things using their irl id, and how those things could be worthwhile info for you, then you are naive to the sins of this world
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
alexanderchr 3y ago
There is an option to not list your reviews on your profile. If you enable it people can still see that you wrote each review, but cannot find all reviews you made (unless they look at the reviews of every place in the world). Good enough for you?
- stemlord 3y ago
  Could they google your name and find them? Also, the main reason I'd like to hide my name in reviews is to hide my identity from the business owners. Retaliation happens and sometimes prospective customers deserve to know about your bad experience
rainytuesday 3y ago
It would be more fun if you could only see friends-of-friends' reviews, but nobody wants to make their social graph public.
jaclaz 3y ago
You mean if you have a few reviews all concentrated in a small area "they" can identify you/where you live? Otherwise reviews are not "time stamped", unless you write something like "I went there on the 28th of April, and ...", there is nothing telling when you were there (if ever at all).
klipklop 3y ago
Due to the real name policies I agree with other posters here. Don’t submit reviews. Don’t engage with any social media that requires you to use your real name that don’t have any privacy controls to limit who can see your posts.
tdsanchez 3y ago
The easy answer is to not post reviews.
- stemlord 3y ago
  Easy but not useful.
hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
> This is a serious privacy risk I don't remember when was the last time I used my real name on the Internet, apart from banking and job interviews. Maybe it was 2007? Why would anyone use their real name anywhere?
draxter 3y ago
For this reason exactly I don't post reviews.
schmookeeg 3y ago
"I want to tell strangers about my experiences at places, but I do not want those strangers to know I have been to those places" ...huh? I think I am missing a subtlety here.
- stemlord 3y ago
  OP means they want to leave anonymous reviews. Imagine a scenario where you want to hide your identity from the business owner, a family member, etc. A local school teacher is disincentivized from warning future customers to a local sex store not to purchase the dildos from there because they're overpriced.

17 points by kbns 3y ago

Anyone can easily follow my whereabouts by looking at my Google reviews. This is a serious privacy risk that will deter users who value their privacy from leaving reviews.

orbz 3y ago

This is the downside of social proof. Your review is less valuable without your identity tied to it. This is why I don’t do any reviews that might identify me.

chrsstrm 3y ago

The whole point of reviews is to inform others on your experience. If you’re uncomfortable with others knowing you’ve been somewhere, why are you giving reviews in the first place?

m00dy 3y ago
generally, you review when you have a really bad experience.
- Pasorrijer 3y ago
  I disagree. I review when I have polarizing experiences (good OR bad), or when I want to show support for a business. I think tying a review to your google account is also good, because anonymity on the internet is generally used by people to say things they wouldn't say in the real world, often in harmful ways.
  - stemlord 3y ago
    >I think tying a review to your google account is also good, because anonymity on the internet is generally used by people to say things they wouldn't say in the real world, often in harmful ways. You're not wrong, but this is also the argument politicians use to strip you of your privacy on behalf of corporations
- chrsstrm 3y ago
  Generally, no, you don’t. Reviews can absolutely be positive and if you had a good experience that’s just as much motivation to leave a review. But positive or negative, that doesn’t address the issue that reviews are meant to be seen by others. It’s the entire core concept of the process.
- WillPostForFood 3y ago
  If that was true then reviews would generally be bad, but that doesn't seem to be the case. One example is IMDB (good large dataset) where the average rating is 6.8 (wish I knew the median, but couldn't find that number).
- nonethewiser 3y ago
  So that others will see it
stemlord 3y ago
OP means they want to do so at least semi-anonymously

yuppie_scum 3y ago

I’d say don’t publish Google Maps reviews then. They’re explicitly public.

dbg31415 3y ago

Set up a second account for reviews. Easy. Annoying. But easy. Just use your middle name or a slightly different spelling. I did that when Yelp forced you to use a real name. Nobody wants to be themselves on the internet. Eww.

WillPostForFood 3y ago
I did that when Yelp forced you to use a real name TBF, Yelp didn't force anyone to use a real name, they ask for a first and last name. You can change it anytime, no validation on reality. I just changed mine to Ycom Hnews. The only friction is a nag: Yelp is all about real people, real reviews. You can change your name, but keep in mind that thousands of people come to Yelp to find your useful, funny and cool reviews. Changing your name may make it harder for them to find and benefit from your opinionated opinions.

tekla 3y ago

Don't review things then.

stemlord 3y ago
I'd like to see what people have to say about local businesses that they wouldn't say with their irl identity, though. If you can't understand why someone wouldn't say certain things using their irl id, and how those things could be worthwhile info for you, then you are naive to the sins of this world

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

alexanderchr 3y ago

There is an option to not list your reviews on your profile. If you enable it people can still see that you wrote each review, but cannot find all reviews you made (unless they look at the reviews of every place in the world). Good enough for you?

stemlord 3y ago
Could they google your name and find them? Also, the main reason I'd like to hide my name in reviews is to hide my identity from the business owners. Retaliation happens and sometimes prospective customers deserve to know about your bad experience

rainytuesday 3y ago

It would be more fun if you could only see friends-of-friends' reviews, but nobody wants to make their social graph public.

jaclaz 3y ago

You mean if you have a few reviews all concentrated in a small area "they" can identify you/where you live? Otherwise reviews are not "time stamped", unless you write something like "I went there on the 28th of April, and ...", there is nothing telling when you were there (if ever at all).

klipklop 3y ago

Due to the real name policies I agree with other posters here. Don’t submit reviews. Don’t engage with any social media that requires you to use your real name that don’t have any privacy controls to limit who can see your posts.

tdsanchez 3y ago

The easy answer is to not post reviews.

stemlord 3y ago
Easy but not useful.

hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago

> This is a serious privacy risk I don't remember when was the last time I used my real name on the Internet, apart from banking and job interviews. Maybe it was 2007? Why would anyone use their real name anywhere?

draxter 3y ago

For this reason exactly I don't post reviews.

schmookeeg 3y ago

"I want to tell strangers about my experiences at places, but I do not want those strangers to know I have been to those places" ...huh? I think I am missing a subtlety here.

stemlord 3y ago
OP means they want to leave anonymous reviews. Imagine a scenario where you want to hide your identity from the business owner, a family member, etc. A local school teacher is disincentivized from warning future customers to a local sex store not to purchase the dildos from there because they're overpriced.