Privacy concerns raised as Google+ makes it possible to send email via name search
Google is integrating its Gmail service and Google+ social tracking network so that people without your Gmail address can send you emails by a name search.
The move has raised questions about its privacy implications, after similar moves with Gmail and its then-new Google Buzz social network in 2010 led to a row over alleged privacy invasion. Those in turn led to Google being bound to a 20-year privacy oversight by the US Federal Trade Commission.
Google has also made the change opt-out, so that users will have to change their settings to prevent unknown people emailing them. The senders will not see the email address of the person they are sending the message to unless the recipient replies.
Announcing the move in a blogpost, Google product manager David Nachum wrote:
Have you ever started typing an email to someone only to realize halfway through the draft that you haven't actually exchanged email addresses? If you are nodding your head 'yes' and already have a Google+ profile, then you’re in luck, because now it's easier for people using Gmail and Google+ to connect over email.
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