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Thread: Google Plus +++ WTH, are the violating restraing orders now?

  1. #1

    Default Google Plus +++ WTH, are the violating restraing orders now?

    Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/3024452/g...ds-man-in-jail

    For some, Google+ notifications are nothing more than an annoyance--a pointless disturbance from what many see as a social network "ghost town." But for Thomas Gagnon, an alert apparently coming from his Google+ account was enough to land him in police custody.

    Last month, according to a report, prosecutors said Gagnon's former girlfriend received an invitation to join one of his Google+ Circles. She'd recently broken up with Gagnon and had obtained a restraining order against him soon afterward. Upon discovering the unwelcome Google+ invite from her ex-beau online, she went down to the local police station with a print-out of the invitation. Roughly 90 minutes later, police arrested Gagnon for his Google+ activity and was later charged with violating the restraining order barring contact with her.

    The only wrinkle? Gagnon's attorney claims his client never sent the request, arguing that he "has no idea how the woman ... got such an invitation" and "suggesting that it might have been sent by a robot," The Salem News reports. It sounds like an almost comical mishap fit for a soap opera, but the interaction is a common one on Google+, where it's often unclear how or when users are actually on the service--and whether they actually count as "users" to begin with.

    To boost engagement on the network, Google began leveraging its more popular properties to force (if not surreptitiously slip) Google+ into our daily routines. In November, for example, YouTube, which is owned by Google, implemented a new commenting system that required a Google+ account in order to contribute to the site's discussions. Google+ Circles, which enable users to classify and manage friends in specific groups (coworkers, roommates), has become more and more embedded in Gmail's contacts feature. And even Google Glass auto-uploads all photos taken on the wearable computer to a private Google+ folder.

    But it's not just product integration that is at issue--the company is using its other services to arbitrarily increase the user base of Google+. As The Information recently reported, "The Google+ stream is broadly defined. In the past, statistics about active users in the stream included anytime a person clicked on the red Google+ notifications in the top right corner of their screen while they were using Web search, Gmail, or other Google Web services. The person didn’t actually have to visit [the Google+ homepage] plus.google.com to be counted as 'active.'"

    That policy has led to confusion over who is actually a member of Google+. Some users have even complained that Google is mining Gmail contacts to send out Google+ notifications. For example, when users register for Gmail, they're automatically welcomed to Google+, too. And by default, when someone joins Google+ and that person is in your Gmail contacts, Google will automatically send you a notification, along with an invitation suggesting that you "add him [or her] to your Circles to stay connected." The same occurs if someone adds you to a Google+ Circle. (Users have the option of adjusting these settings.)

    Google has had a history of privacy hiccups. In 2011, it settled with the FTC over charges that the company used deceptive tactics for its rollout of its failed Buzz social network, which automatically enrolled some users into the service through Gmail, even if they weren't interested in joining.

    Perhaps something similar happened to Gagnon--an automated Google+ invite accidentally triggered through his Gmail contacts. Perhaps he simply added or moved his ex-girlfriend to, say, an "Old Acquaintances" Circle, which, unbeknownst to him, caused Google to automatically send a notification to her suggesting that she add him to a Circle too.

    Or, of course, perhaps he actually did violate the terms of his restraining order. (Multiple requests to Gagnon for comment were not immediately returned; his attorney was also unreachable. A representative for Google declined to comment on the record.)

    Either way, Gagnon's experience, while an extreme example, demonstrates the potential consequences of the lack of transparency surrounding Google+. Neil Hourihan, Gagnon’s lawyer, told a Massachusetts judge that the charges were “absolutely unfounded.”

    "[He] suggested that unlike Facebook, which requires users to select potential friends, he believes Google+ generates invitations for 'anyone you’ve ever contacted,'" The Salem News reported. "A Salem District Court judge admitted he wasn’t sure exactly how such invitations work on Google’s social media site."

    Still, the judge set bail at $500. The case is set to begin in early February.
    Is this actually breaking the law? Are the arresting officers being unreasonable? Is the judge being unreasonable? Is Google being unreasonable sending out google + request to everyone?

    I don't use the service, i'm a FB'er.... I was getting so much unsolicited stuff that I had to shut my google+ account down.
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    It's not okay to shoot an innocent bank clerk but shooting a felon to death is commendable and do you should receive a reward rather than a punishment

  2. #2
    If everything laid out in the article as accurate then no, no one is being unreasonable and will not become unreasonable until further investigation demonstrates that the guy did not in fact violate the restraining order. It is possible to accidentally violate such an order and it's perfectly understandable for the person protected and the police to react to it as if it was deliberate until demonstrated otherwise. An allegation is not a conviction. Google notifications can maybe stand to be more clear but someone concerned about their safety might well reasonably be uninterested in perfectly parsing a message anyway. And I don't see anything the least bit objectionable about Google's behavior trying to combine and leverage all its services.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  3. #3
    This is probably US local police anti-tech lunacy more than anything else. Not knowing what the e-mail sent, one of them could have added the other to a circle when they were a couple (but both of them weren't actually using converted Google+ accounts).

    Or, ya know, he decided to "friend" her on Google+ and is using this as an excuse.

    I don't even really consider Google+ a service as much as just a feature to unify accounts and combine services, as Fuzzy said. I don't get much/any unsolicited stuff, but it's nice for sharing things with limited groups of people (EG albums of kids get shared with only family contacts).

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