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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

Sorry, why didn't they change their name on google, just like the bank, council tax documents and such.

this information could have been easily gleaned when logged in to google, it's not necessarily googles fault if you provide them false or stale information and fail to change it.

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FTFA:

  I don't remember actually giving this detail to Google, nor can I find anywhere within the settings where anything other than "Nora" is listed

There seems to be an implication that Google somehow obtained this information and added it to her account automatically, while this might be technically feasible I'm not aware of any actual claim that this is the case.

Much more likely is that the user entered her real name when she signed up initially and just forgot about it (how many people here can recall what details they gave to MySpace or Yahoo a decade ago?)

That's still missing the point. Even IF the user gave that information voluntarily in the past (she claims she didn't and we should believe her by default in my world, out of courtesy and respect) - the quote continues and says that there wasn't a setting to be found that referred to the wrong/unwanted name.

IF that name was given previously the user still needs to have final say about her appearance online, her very own account data. Saying "You probably gave it out earlier and yeah, maybe there's no way to remove it from the history of your account" wouldn't make Google look better in any way.

No she doesn't. The exact quote is "I don't remember" which is completely different from "I didn't". That's the danger of implication, it makes you think one thing is meant while another is actually said.

Uh, no, "I don't remember doing X" and "I didn't do X" mean exactly the same thing. The first one is just more explicit.

No, they don't mean the same thing, even approximately.

> This account was registered using my preferred name, Nora, but when I look at hangout histories, certain locations on my android phone, and a few other places, I see my legal name popping up instead. / I don't remember actually giving this detail to Google, nor can I find anywhere within the settings where anything other than "Nora" is listed

That frustrates me. "Real Name" policies or otherwise, Google didn't magic her name out of the ether. She gave it to them at some point, whether she remembers or not.

According to the article, the issue is that Google+ integration in the user's Android phone caused certain personal information to be visible to everyone even though said Android/Google+ user was not aware this Google+ was being created or updated with this info (the info was synced from the Android address book/contacts to Google who then used it in Google+ account creation).

During a transgender person's "transition" their name is also likely to "transition" hence, until a court order legally changes their name, they may use a preferred name in non-legal contexts. Forcing someone to use a legal name in a non-legal context (e.g., Facebook) is one problem. Allowing a user enter their desired name and then using surreptitiously gleaned information to change that name to their legal name is a different problem, but a problem none the less.

When I give a name to my bank or council tax or utility provider, and they then leak a different name, i can use the Information Commissioner to enforce correct data usage and to provide sanctions. (In theory. IRL they are too busy and too soft).

Right - but at some point she gave them the other name, whether she claims she didn't, or "doesn't remember". Google didn't pull her name out of a hat, and it's not magically associating it via advertising / cross site correlation otherwise.

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