Is Google+ Killing Anonymity?

Facebook decided a couple of years ago that you have to use your real name to become a member and now Google Plus has made it their new policy as well. It's started a fierce debate, Randi Zuckerberg, former Facebook marketing director said "anonymity on the Internet has to go away." But there are a lot of people fighting back against this statement, and now a new website has been dedicated to the cause of anonymity, called, "My name is Me". Electronic Frontier Foundation's Eva Galperin weighs in.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• The Alyona Show
• Alyona Minkovski
• RT America
• TheAlyonaShow
• RTAmerica
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• Facebook
• Google
• Plus
• Randi
• Zuckerberg
• privacy
• anonymity
• internet
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• EFF
• Eva
• Galperin
• pseudonyms
• my.nameis.me

[loewinful]

1. go to google

2. make acct with fake name

3. have google+ acct with fake name

[darkhorseman81]

Facebook make a lot more money selling peoples identities to Governments and corporations. They sold the Gaza fleet protester info to US and Egyptian government.

[DBRproductions8P]

No way I'm giving my real name so people who don't like my videos..or like them a little to much 8 P ,can track me down. Started this channel today & went to open a Google+ to go with it to help promote it, that was before I read their policy. Not only did they want it on + also said it would put it on all G accounts & apps don't know if that includes YouTube, doesn't matter I +1 a video my name is associated with my YouTube name. Just a hop skip & a jump to my violated corpse from there 8 P

[traceyatyou]

Google should clarify something. Their policy statement says: "Your common name is the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you."

My friends, family and co-workers usually call me The Trace, so I'm waiting for them to explain what they want better because it seems they would not like my common name.

[Roveston]

anonymity on internet is what brought us news, scoops, useful hacks, unexpressed points of view. i wouldnt cancel it

[blacklite911]

@JasonLChapman yea, I get the spokeswoman's point but people in general and especially RT (with their previous videos) are pissed about google's non anonymous policy. They did something similar with the youtube thing. Its just seems to me the framing of the debate is wrong, instead of arguing against google, they should be promoting and creating alternatives.

[JasonLChapman]

@blacklite911 No the EFF spokesperson said that the issue was brought up because Google was asking for input from the field testing users.

[JasonLChapman]

@bblackmoor I'm annoyed by BOTH sides of the "argument/debate."

I could honestly careless about people wanting/not wanting to hide their names. I'm annoyed that my stream is clogged by Googlers and Pseudos wanting change to go in their favor. I've deleted many people from my circles due to over posting about this. I DON'T CARE.

The reason I don't care is because it doesn't effect me directly. I personally don't know anyone that has an issue with the policy.

[bblackmoor]

@JasonLChapman People who are annoyed at this issue are like people who were annoyed at all the protesting that women did in the 1920s, or the blacks did in the 1960s, or the gays have more recently. It is the complaint of someone who doesn't have to worry about the "annoying" issue themselves.

[bblackmoor]

It would be clearer to refer to Google's policy as requiring the use of "government names", rather than "real names". Google has made it clear that they do not care about the names people actually use -- what they care about is the government-sanctioned name.

Remember April 2009, when Google refused to require YouTube users to register their government-sanctioned names in South Korea, because it was a restriction on freedom of expression? I do. Google seems to have forgotten.

[JasonLChapman]

Google already has their name. This whole "issue" is getting ANNOYING and overblown.

[omniambience]

Pseudonyms are insufficient anyway