pseudonyms
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German privacy watchdog orders Facebook to stay out of usernames
Facebook's authentic name policy was meant to make the social media platform a safe place where "pretending to be anything or anyone isn't allowed." But, ironically the policy bred harassment instead of curtailing it. Most recently, Facebook blocked a German user's account (as it often does) for using an alias, asked her to provide a copy of her ID and swapped her pseudonym with her real name without her consent. The user filed a complaint, claiming she had picked a fictitious name to avoid unwarranted business queries. The Hamburg Data Protection Authority responded and stepped in to protect her privacy rights. According to a Reuters report, the German agency has ordered Facebook to let users pick pseudonyms. The company can no longer control or change the usernames. What's more, it can't ask users for their IDs.
Facebook bests German watchdog in court tiff over real names
After a German privacy watchdog ordered Facebook to allow the use of fake usernames "immediately," an appeals court has said nein. While the protection body in the tiny state of Schleswig-Holstein argued that Facebook's ban on pseudonyms breached the nation's privacy laws, an administrative court in the region ruled that those laws don't apply to the company, since its European HQ is located in less-stringent Ireland. Facebook argued that requiring the use of real names protects its users, but the regulator said it'll appeal the decision all the same -- thus prolonging the social network's long-running German headache.
German state of Schleswig-Holstein orders Facebook to allow pseudonyms
While some countries are insisting that web users hand over their real names, a German state has ordered Facebook to start letting people use fake handles online "immediately." The office of the Data Protection Commissioner in the state of Schleswig-Holstein said that Facebook's real name policy violates the German Telemedia Act and promised to fine the company $26,000 if it fails to allow pseudonyms within two weeks. The decree doesn't hold water in other German regions, but Schleswig-Holstein's commissioner said that colleagues elsewhere agree with the order, and that his state is being used a pilot to test the law. Facebook said it'll fight the order "vigorously," calling it "a waste of German taxpayer's money," and added that its policy already complies with European laws. We'll have to see whether this turns into yet another privacy tiff with the nation, or if it's just a lot of sturm & drang in a teapot.
Google + Nicknames = Hilarity
Google's so desperate for the boys to come to its yard that it won't be long before it buys a milkshake factory. Until then, it's relaxing its ban on nicknames for Google+ users: now amusingly nicknamed composer W.G. "Snuffy" Walden can get back to being himself. Just remember that any name change will carry through Google's entire online service, so try to avoid anything too raunchy if you also use Gmail for work. If you use a pseudonym (say "Madonna") then you'll have to submit scanned copies of you getting papped in Hollywood before you'll be able to use your assumed name. The service will be quietly rolling out to users in the next week, to add your own hilarious nickname, just edit your profile's name and hit the More Options text to the right.
