Google and "full name": what do they want? Also: Facebook/Yahoo logins

Factual Questions
1

I’m placing this in the General Questions section because I’m pretty sure there’s a factual answer to it. However, it relates to privacy concerns and I know there are some strong opinions on that topic, so if the mods think it would work better in IMHO, then I’m cool with that.

Google has been pestering me of late to use my “full name.” When I post on Youtube mostly, I’ll get a screen asking me to use my “full name.” I’m not sure exactly what they’re asking for, I have no problem with them identifying me as “Pat Powers” if that’s as far as it goes, largely because Pat Powers is an online alias. I do have a real name mailbox, etc., and I don’t want them to get mixed up with my online alias because who the hell wants that?

I have heard that Google collects all your information and kind of agglomerates it together, something I am not sure I want, even if my real name is not agglomerated with my online alias. Others have expressed concerns that this might be an online privacy issue. Does anybody have the straight dope on what Google is up to here? I ask here because I’m sure Google has some mealy-mouthed corporate explanation that may or may not have much to do with the truth, but what i want is: the straight dope.

Also, I often post on sites that allow comments on their articles. I am frequently being given the option to login with my Yahoo or Facebook login. That works for me, but in addition in the case of Facebook they want the right to post on my Facebook page for me, and in the case of Yahoo they want the contents of my address books. If I don’t give the rights up, I don’t get to use the logins.

I used a Facebook login once and accepted these terms and wound up getting corporate spam pasted on my Facebook page. I don’t spam my ENEMIES, much less my FRIENDS so I booted those posts and that company from my Facebook immediately. For the same reason, no one is getting access to my email address book.

My question is, ss there any legitimate reason why they would need this information?

It would be a LOT easier if I could login and post with my existing logins instead of having to register at a lot of different sites. I don’t mind giving organizations a real, reliable email address or Facebook address, but I don’t want to give them spamming rights. Any tech solutions around these issues?

2

Depends on what you mean by “legitimate”.

If you mean so they can aggregate higher quality information on you and sell it? So that they can help others to find you so that they can “friend” you and other things, thereby increasing the number of active users? Etc. Sure, legitimate.

If you mean “legitimate” in the sense of doing something to help keep things secure, safe or whatever. No way at all. In fact, quite the opposite. There are people out there, for example, that have stalkers, abusive exes, etc. that cannot reasonably be expected to use their real names. Since people can and do use fake names (I do), all these “real” names are not to be trusted anyway. Twitter in particular has a big problem with people faking celebrities and even quite a few non-celebrities.

Note the distinction. Does it help them? Sure. Does it help you? Not at all.

3

The purpose is simple: when you choose to do that, you also sign up for Google+. The reason they ask for a real name is that Google+'s policy says you must use your real name. Google+ does this to make more money by selling your information. I personally can’t figure out why they can’t just keep it anonymous.

If I see anyone but a kid or famous person with their full name on YouTube, I think more poorly of them. If it’s a kid, I feel really sorry for them since Google is encouraging them to give away their privacy in a way that kids were always taught not to do. Those kids are really going to love it when they get older and everything posted on YouTube comes back to haunt them.

But Google doesn’t give a shit about kids. They even try to trick you when you say you won’t sign up by phrasing it as saying you “can’t” for some reason, trying to make you feel guilty. And don’t forget, they always keep on asking for your cell number, claiming it’s so they can contact you if your account gets locked (because someone hacked it), despite the fact that you’ve given them an alternate email, and said No every time they’ve asked.

In general, people don’t insist on asking for stuff when you’ve told them no unless they have less than honorable reasons for wanting it. The idea is that, if they ask often enough, you’ll acquiesce just to get them to shut up. It’s a technique of persuasion even used in the Bible. Problem is, less Internet savvy people fall for it all the time. Even on this board, people claim that the phone number is just for security, which is obviously false based on the aforementioned lack of just using an alternate email.

If Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail didn’t absolutely suck, I’d already be gone.

4

see, that, right there? That’s NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

5

My full name on my online identity is a fake name. So I’m not sure of the value of what they would be selling. My concern is if they start comparing IP numbers and conflating my online identities. For example, on Facebook, Facebook tries to tell my real personna that I should friend my online personna, and it tells my online personna that it should friend my real personna. There is absolutely no link between the two identities except the IP numbers, so I am pretty sure Facebook is using them. I guess I should feel glad that they are giving me the option of freinding myself, or not. If Google gets up to the same sort of hi-jinks … not good.