Goodbye pseudonyms! Android app store reviews will now show your Google+ name and picture

In Google’s relentless drive to encourage the world to give a damn about its Google+ social network, the software giant has decided to force users who want to leave reviews of Android apps to do so using their Google+ name and picture.

In short, there will be no more pseudonymous reviews on Google Play – from now on, any feedback you leave on Android apps will be accompanied by your name and photograph.

From now on, reviews you write will be posted publicly using your Google+ name and picture.

Your name on previous reviews will appear as “A Google User”.

Note that Google hasn’t given you anyway of opting-out of using your Google+ name and picture.

Earlier this year, Google began encouraging YouTube users to also start…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.