Google+ Shuts Down as Nearly Half a Million Accounts Compromised

Google has confirmed that it is shutting down Google +, a social network that was launched to rival Facebook, but failed to make an impact. However, the big news is not that Google+ is finally shutting down, which seemed inevitable, but that Google hid the data leak that has compromised nearly 500,000 accounts, reports The Indian Express. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Google found the software bug in its API in March 2018, though it had existed since 2015. The company also decided against reporting the incident because it “trigger immediate regulatory interest”, adds the report. WSJ quoted from an internal memo that was reviewed by Google’s legal and policy team and took the decision not to report the problem. CEO Sundar Pichai was kept in the loop on this decision.

The report says Google was worried that making this issue public would lead to comparisons with Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.