The 69-year-old chief internet evangelist of Google, Vint Cerf, who is also recognised as the “father of the internet” has made some important contributions towards technology which have not only earned him numerous awards but a number of honorary degrees as well. Therefore, Cerf is without a doubt the most eligible person to comment on the latest policy from Google that is pushing people to use their actual names on all of its services. Talking to Reuters during a recent interview, Cerf said that the initiative by Google to force users to use their actual names on its services like YouTube, Google+ and others has “sparked intense debate” at the multinational corporation.
The Google executive said that, “Over the past year, the company has strongly encouraged users to merge their accounts on YouTube, Gmail and other Google properties into a single Google+ identity, the company’s social network offering that asks users to use the “common name” they are known by in the real world.” He said, “Using real names is useful. But I don’t think it should be forced on people, and I don’t think we do.”
According to Vint using the real world names is “perfectly reasonable” in specific situations, particularly in regions where governments are looking to forbid anonymity. Cerf said, “But Cerf recognized using real names could land social media users under oppressive regimes in “fatal trouble,” and Google will not enforce its policy in such instances. But in many other cases, user authentication should be promoted.”
He also said that, “Anonymity and pseudonymity are perfectly reasonable under some situations. But there are cases where in the transactions both parties really need to know who are we talking to. So what I’m looking for is not that we shut down anonymity, but rather that we offer an option when needed that can strongly authenticate who the parties are.”
During the interview Cerf also shared his views about Facebook as well, where users are often found using fake names. Cerf said, “I’m on Facebook and I found it less than useful.” Explaining the reason for calling Facebook “less than useful” the Google executive said when he joined the social networking website he used to add every person, who sends him a friend request and soon his friends list hit the upper limit of 5,000 friends.
After which Cerf said he, “complained to (Facebook Chief Operating Officer) Sheryl Sandberg that I thought that was a personal insult that they thought I had too many friends. I think they changed it for me.”
Source: 9to5Google
Photo: Wikipedia
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