Google Permanently Shuts Down Google+ Due to Massive Security Flaw

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has exposed the data of thousands of Google+ users due to a faulty API. Because of this massive security flaw, Google Permanently Shuts Down Google+.

The faulty API allowed developers to access the public data of the users who signed up to use the app. The bug in the API not only allowed the developers to access the private data of the users but it also exposed the data of the people they are connected to.

Google Permanently Shuts Down Google+ Because of the Faulty API

Google found up to 438 apps that used this API and 496,951 users may have been affected by this bug. The faulty API stole the data including full names, email addresses, birth dates, gender, profile photos, places lived, occupation and relationship status. There were no phone numbers, email messages, timeline posts, direct messages or any other type of communication data.

This issue appeared back in 2015 and Google found out about it in March 2018 and decided to fix it. Google excused that it has found no evidence of any of the misuse of the data.

The company is also working on improving security elsewhere. Google will also restrict developer access to things such as SMS, call logs, and contact data.

Recent reports also revealed that Google Chrome For Android is Dropping Support for 32 million Android Devices. According to some reports, all those still running an Android handset powered by Jelly Bean will no longer be able to use the most popular mobile browser on earth with over 1 billion installs on Android alone.

The company has not revealed any information regarding when this change will take place. But we assume that Google will soon update many of those devices to the next Android Operating system.