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Gmail Reveals the Names of All Users
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by Jarrett Martineau | July 17, 2008 at 08:27 am
377 views | 6 Recommendations | 6 comments
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Didn't Google used to say things like "Don't be evil"? Perhaps, now, the more appropriate recommendation would be: just don't make it easy for the rest of the world to use your technology and software to be evil.
"Have you ever wanted to know the name of admin@gmail.com? Now you can. Through a bug in Google calendars the names of all registered Gmail accounts are now readily available. All you need to find out the names of any gmail address is a Google calendar account yourself. Depending on your view this ranges from a harmless "feature" to a rather serious privacy violation. According to some reports, spammers are already exploiting this "feature"/bug to send personalized spam messages."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 08:29 on July 17th, 2008
I felt betrayed by Google. Shame.
at 08:31 on July 17th, 2008
That is awful. I feel the same way Heiky. I am no longer a fan of Google.
at 09:04 on July 17th, 2008
Jarrett Martineau, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 09:06 on July 17th, 2008
Jarrett Martineau, good stuff, but with a caveat about the headline.
Because I use Google, I made sure I researched this. And it seems like you have to know the email of someone, and invite them to share your calendar, before you get the user's actual name.
It's not as though by having a calendar you can get the names of all Google users. I'm not saying that the name-sharing without permission is a good thing, but it also doesn't seem like an across-the-board security flaw.
Here are my resources: one and two.
Two has graphics.
Has Google replied to this yet? Let's follow this one!
at 21:21 on July 17th, 2008
Jarrett Martineau, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 22:39 on July 17th, 2008
I've been saying for almost two years now that Google will eventually become the company that we all "love to hate." I am a die-hard Google fan with an account for everything from Gmail, Docs & Apps, to a little used Orkut account. Heck I even signed up for the Mars mission on Virgle. But I am afraid that almost two years later the time to "love to hate" is coming out.