E-Safety Warning: Google+ and YouTube

[CAM]

First off, I generally try (key word try) to keep aliases and my real name separate, hence why I have a YouTube account that was made under a very old alias and never libked to my real name.

 

When Google+ and YouTube merged I figured I may as well link as the merger had been on the horizon for some time. I didn't realise the ramifications of this until today when I did a sweep of my Google+ profile, something that to Google's credit I never really had to do before as it was always pretty tight and well designed. Unfortunately there is a link that points to the YouTube channel that I don't want on there since it shows my old alias and I'd rather not link any of them to my name, as is good practice when working in a school.

 

No matter what I do, I cannot remove this link from my profile. It is in the links box and even editing the permissions to every item in this box to Private will not remove the link. The channel contains videos revealing all of my gamertags and aliases in the footage and a video of a somewhat rude snow sculpture someone made in the area (which happens to be my most popular video, wonder why!). And I cannot hide it short of destroying my Google+ page or YouTube channel.

 

Google have really screwed up. And of course, making either the Google+ profile or YouTube channel under alias (which I would have done when Google+ first came in) is also explicitly banned.

 

 

 

As an update, I followed a procedure Google recommended on YouTube to disconnect the account and create a channel linked to a page instead. All is good so far. I now cannot access that page as the page has no connections to my Google account. It also nags me to use YouTube as me and has wiped all of my videos and subscriptions. Attempting to log-in as the page channel automatically fails.

 

This system is completely shot!

Edited November 17, 2013 by CAM

[ZeroHour]

I get the popup all the time asking to link allow google to merge my + profile into youtube, if you say no it asks why you dont want to lol but what I found was if I refreshed the video it went away so mine still arent linked ftw

Google is too desperate to get everyone's data and I really am growing a dislike for Eric Schmit who seems to purely be about profit rather then do no evil.

[plexer]

I don't understand the fuss?

 

Ben

[CAM]

I don't understand the fuss?

 

Ben

 

It's breaking down the wall between home and work. Private and Public. The mild and meek English PGCE teacher Mrs Williams having a link to videos of her screaming "Die *****!" as 420xxSWAGSolja on Counter-Strike from her university days suddenly appearing on a professional profile that the kids see. That sort thing is the problem.

[plexer]

That's the thing though don't put something on the internet you wouldn't want the world to see or if you're so worried about a professional profile have multiple ones to keep these things separate.

 

Ben

[elsiegee40]

Moved to eSafety forum

[CAM]

But the point is a lot of people have been compelled by Google to do this linking just to use continue using all the site's features. Having been through the process and suddenly finding information on my own profile I didn't want on there was unpleasant. The ensuing process of linking the account to a page instead proved unwieldy and complicated resulting in a broken YouTube account. That is a risk.

 

It's also all well and good saying "Don't want it seen don't post it online" and it's good advice to follow, but in reality that doesn't happen. You'd end up posting nothing on the Internet as everything offends someone in one way or another.

 

This is just a heads up to those who have linked that Google+ is potentially exposing more information then they'd like.

Edited November 17, 2013 by CAM

[Arthur]

Google is too desperate to get everyone's data and I really am growing a dislike for Eric Schmidt who seems to purely be about profit rather than do no evil.

Integrating Google+ with everything seems to be Vic Gundotra's fault. Also, the days of "Do no evil" are long gone for Google.

 

One trick Gundotra learned at Microsoft is something a former colleague called "licking the cookie." The phrase comes from the way a little kid will take two cookies from a plate, licking one then eating the other, thereby assuring none of his friends will eat the first while he eats the second. Gundotra, we're told, would "lick the cookie" at Google by putting future products and features into presentations about Google+, long before his teams would be able to get to building them. For example, to YouTube executives, it might have made more sense for Google Hangouts to have been a YouTube product. But Gundotra claimed it first.

 

Gundotra's biggest win: A few years ago, Google+ did not exist. Now it is built into every Google product, whether the people who run those products wanted it to be or not. (Source)