Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Why I was banned on Google+ (and how I redeemed myself)
It didn't like my name. I was told the account was being investigated for possible violations for Google's profile policies. So, being told what the problem was at last, I entered my full real name and I was told to check back. So I did, day after day last week.
I finally sent Google a feedback form, showing it my name and telling it that I was not violating its policies. That did the trick.
On Monday, my account was working.
So I posted a photo. I was horrified to discover that although I had set the privacy settings on my photos to default to be visible only to specific circles, the photo was marked as publicly visible. No amount of searching or clicking would get Google to declare that photo not public. I was even more horrified to discover that the photo somehow geolocated itself to the exact location it was taken ... which is amazingly creepy as it was taken on a trail in a state park on the iPhone of a friend and sent as a text to my Android phone.
Important Google Notice:
“Personal information” is information that you provide to us which personally identifies you, such as your name, email address or billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google."
I finally sent Google a feedback form, showing it my name and telling it that I was not violating its policies. That did the trick.
On Monday, my account was working.
So I posted a photo. I was horrified to discover that although I had set the privacy settings on my photos to default to be visible only to specific circles, the photo was marked as publicly visible. No amount of searching or clicking would get Google to declare that photo not public. I was even more horrified to discover that the photo somehow geolocated itself to the exact location it was taken ... which is amazingly creepy as it was taken on a trail in a state park on the iPhone of a friend and sent as a text to my Android phone.
Important Google Notice:
“Personal information” is information that you provide to us which personally identifies you, such as your name, email address or billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google."
THIS LINK posted by Joseph Bell : 9:26 AM
