hugely linkbait title (same as the article, not blaming submitter). And it looks like it may have been something more accurate originally, note the text of the link (to the same article) in the top 4 links:
A Google profile is not the same thing as a Facebook profile. You can have a Google account without a Google profile. That's why when you delete a profile, it doesn't mean it deletes the whole account.
Geesh, such a misleading article. Was this pushed by that Facebook PR firm again?
This sounds scary at first, but it seems to only apply to a profile which I have apparently or apparently not created.
They have the default right too (unlike facebook): I don't get an automatic opt-in, I get an automatic opt-out.
The only thing left to clarify (as mostly_harmless writes) is the connection of a profile to other gmail services. If they get the balance wrong here, they're done. If they don't - and they seem to be doing a pretty good job so far.
>If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011.
I'd assume this means you can make Gmail accounts not linked to your identity so long as you don't make a Google Profile.
gender is actually highly sensitive for a lot of people as well, especially being forced into male/female buckets (which are actually sex and not gender).
I suspect it's due to internationalization reasons. Even in English, we don't really have useful singular third-person gender-neutral pronouns (yes, I'm aware of "they", but it's actually a debated topic). In other languages where everything has genders, there might not be a reason to have gender neutral pronouns whatsoever.
They'll claim it's for customization of prompts ("His photos", "her updates"), but that's a cop-out. Think of the possibilities when you can sell such demographic details to your advertisers. Now it should start making sense.
If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011.
Private profiles will be deleted not become public, the author should be ashamed.
I bet the author got exactly what he aimed for, which is a lot of traffic. This type of news writer intentionally aims for such sensationalistic headlines, even though they end up dis-informing people (one great example of this is Fox news).
[+] [-] Groxx|14 years ago|reply
>No private profiles on Google ...
Gotta wonder who pushed for this title.
[+] [-] daimyoyo|14 years ago|reply
Keep that in mind before you get too outraged at this.
[1]http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&#...
[+] [-] nextparadigms|14 years ago|reply
Geesh, such a misleading article. Was this pushed by that Facebook PR firm again?
[+] [-] nodata|14 years ago|reply
They have the default right too (unlike facebook): I don't get an automatic opt-in, I get an automatic opt-out.
The only thing left to clarify (as mostly_harmless writes) is the connection of a profile to other gmail services. If they get the balance wrong here, they're done. If they don't - and they seem to be doing a pretty good job so far.
[+] [-] mostly_harmless|14 years ago|reply
How far does this go, and what would be the visible effect on account management with google products?
[+] [-] capnrefsmmat|14 years ago|reply
>If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011.
I'd assume this means you can make Gmail accounts not linked to your identity so long as you don't make a Google Profile.
[+] [-] benologist|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mooneater|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] buro9|14 years ago|reply
There's a world of pain for them in this.
[+] [-] mdwrigh2|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rachelbythebay|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benologist|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Groxx|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ruchi|14 years ago|reply
You can search your name here https://profiles.google.com/
[+] [-] yanw|14 years ago|reply
http://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?hl=en&#...
If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011.
Private profiles will be deleted not become public, the author should be ashamed.
[+] [-] levesque|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] madaxe|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jeggers5|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] calloc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pilgrim689|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jeggers5|14 years ago|reply