[Scspamcop] Re: Whose Gmail account is that?

[VanguardLH]

Twayne wrote:

> Want to know who's behind that Gmail account?  Their first and last 
> names?
> 
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1494
> 
> Twayne

http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=97703
also
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/12/google-profiles.html
(notice the datestamp)

If you don't want others to see your name associated with a profile
(associated to your Gmail e-mail address):

http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=97706&ctx=sibling

The navigation path mentioned doesn't exist in my account.  I had to go
to My Account to see the settings where I could edit my "profile"
(username, zipcode, country, timezone).  I did find a "My Profile" link
when I went to http://maps.google.com.  The idea is you enter whatever
you want to make it easier for others to find you.  I hadn't created a
profile (and probably won't bother).  There you can create a profile
with: first name, last name, display name, occupation, location, about
me.  I didn't create a profile so I don't if you can delete it or not
after creating one.  Obviously all this information is voluntary.

That you can use the Google Calendar to do a reverse lookup from Gmail
address to the user's profile (what there is of it) isn't a big
surprise.  Once Google gets profiles across all their services, the
reverse lookup will probably be search option.

Actually I did the mentioned "trick" of adding a user (by their Gmail
address) in sharing a calender.  When I returned to the sharing config
screen, all I saw was the e-mail address, not their name.  But then I
don't get the same screens as shown in the article.  In the article, the
"Share this calendar" tab has "Share this computer with others" option
under which you can select to make it public or with only some folks
(the option title got truncated in the article).  In my "Share this
calendar" tab, I just have the "Make this calendar public".  Guess
Nathan has a "special" Google account.

It still amazes me that users think "Google" somehow even impugns a
concept of privacy.  That's not their goal.