Google+ closes after hiding for months, a failure that exposed the data of 500,000 users

The security breach occurred in march of 2018, and the Internet giant decided not to communicate that such failure existed

A total of 438 applications used programming interface that allowed access to the private data of the users

Alphabetm, the array of Google, has decided on Monday to close Google+, their social network, after that the personal data of 500,000 users were exposed to be affected by a programming error, as reported by the company in a press release.

The security breach was detected in march 2018, was active from 2015 and, according to published the newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’, the Internet giant decided not to communicate that such failure existed. The internal report the who has had access to the american newspaper indicates that the legal team of Google’s recommended not to communicate the security breach to avoid the “regulatory moment”, comparing possible consequences with the count on Facebook after discovering the breach of security that you used Cambridge Analytica.

A total of 438 applications used programming interface that allowed access to the private data of the users. However, Alphabet has underlined that it has not found evidence that the developers were aware that there was this breach of security, or who has made use of these data.

Google also says that app developers were not aware of the failure and, therefore, did not use the data exposed: “we have Not found evidence that the data will be used inappropriately”.

Google+ has millions of users and is mainly used by professionals who are interested in specific topics and you can see the updates of your contacts through the “circles”.

The circles are groups of contacts created by the user in accordance with the criteria of your choice: interests, categories of customers, relationships, etc, and within which it is possible to decide the content that will be shared.

The actions of Alphabet have declined 1.36 percent following news of the security breach up to a price of 1.151,83 dollars, compared to 1.167,83 dollar that closed Friday.