Robert Siciliano, a McAfee identity-theft expert, discusses a case where a man with an existing restraining order got caught violating it after Google+ sent him a notification about someone. The conversation covers whether Google+ can auto-send invites and what privacy settings actually protect you on social networks.
Chapters
Sarah, thank you. For most people, Google+ notifications are nothing more than spam, quickly deleted from your email inbox and forgotten. For a Beverly man, the alert from his account landed him in jail. Thomas Gagnon reportedly violated a restraining order by sending his ex-girlfriend an invitation to join his Google+ circle. His lawyer says his client doesn't know how the alert was sent, suggesting it may have been generated and sent automatically by a Google robot. A Salem judge stated he wasn't sure how this all works, but but set bail at $500 and ordered Gagnon to stay away from the woman's home and follow the restraining order. We're joined now by Robert Siciliano, McAfee consultant, identity theft expert as well. First of all, Robert, good evening, and explain to us what exactly Google+ is.
So Google+ is one of many social networks, and you connect to your friends or acquaintances via the social media site. Generally, when you sign up for the site, you might be prompted to allow the service to search your address or contact book.
Okay.
And then from there, they will, you know, send out an email to everybody inviting them to the social media site.
Sounds a lot like Facebook, correct? I mean, that's widely used by many people.
Yeah, very, very much the same thing. Google+ is not used by nearly as many. I think there's, you know, less than 100 million people on Google+. Okay. And It's a little complicated, actually, and the settings can be confusing to some.
Can Google+ automatically send these alerts without the person who has that account knowing it?
So, uh, well, the definition of automatically, uh, can be debated.
Okay.
Uh, depending on your settings and what you do with the circles and where you place people in those circles and when you sign up and so forth, uh, sometimes, uh, it will send out notifications to people that you are, in fact, on Google+. Requesting that they join you, whether you do that intentionally or by placing them again in circles, that can happen.
Is there any way to stop this?
Well, not signing up for Google+ and staying away from it is one way.
So what kind of lessons, I guess, can we take away from all this? Because, I mean, a lot of people use social media, a lot of people are on Facebook, certainly Google+, you say it's kind of in its infancy by comparison, but, you know, there are a lot of things, I guess, happening out there that we're not even aware is being done as far as our information information being distributed.
Yeah, I've joined many social sites over the past years, and they've sent out notifications without my approval that I didn't like. And so when you engage in these sites, you have to look at their policies, look at the way they do things, and again, they change all the time, uh, and they may in fact send out notifications without your authorization. And then you have to, you know, contact 100 people and apologize for that, which you don't want to do. So sometimes it's kind of just best to lay low. Again, if you're going to engage in these sites at all, You really have to pay attention to the settings, and I would recommend at least quarterly looking at those settings to see what they do, if they've changed their policies. If they send you notifications saying, "Hey, we changed our policy," read it to find out how it impacts you.
Well, some good reminders and some good tips right there. Robert Siciliano, McAfee consultant and identity theft expert, always appreciate talking with you.
