Google is shutting down Google+ four months earlier than originally planned following a second data breach.
It was announced back in October that Google+ would be shut down in August 2019 due to a data breach affecting 500,000 users.
A significantly larger data breach was discovered this past November, impacting 52.5 million users.
As a result, Google is expediting the process of sunsetting Google+, which is now scheduled for April 2019.
In addition, all Google+ APIs will be shut down within the next 90 days.
For those concerned that their data may have fallen into the wrong hands, Google says there is no evidence of misuse.
“No third party compromised our systems, and we have no evidence that the developers who inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused it in any way.”
However, the investigation into the impact of the bug is still ongoing, so further details may be revealed at a later date.
In the worst case scenario, the only information a third party may have had access to is profile information provided by a user that was set to not-public.
Google says the bug found in the Google+ API would not have given third parties access to data used for fraud or identity theft.
“The bug did not give developers access to information such as financial data, national identification numbers, passwords, or similar data typically used for fraud or identity theft.”
Users who actively used Google+, and wish to preserve their data, can do so by following the steps in this article.
More Resources
- How to Export Your Google+ Data Before it Shuts Down
- Google is Shutting Down Google+, Admits Low Consumer Adoption
