Last year I created a map of recommended places for my hometown. I thought I’d share it more widely so other people could also use it. I checked all the settings and clicked all the buttons within the map to see if it was linked to my name and account; it wasn’t, as far as I could see. I shared it.
Now I learn that when you share a map like that, it gets saved to the Google Drive of any person who opens it. So my name and maybe email address are out there for thousands of people to see, without my knowledge, and without Google making this at ALL clear when I was setting it up (as I said, I clicked on every button and even opened it in a different browser; nothing showed that was related to me at all).
This is a MAJOR fail on Google’s part, and a security issue. Not JUST that my info is shared, but that it’s been shared for ages without my knowledge; I first shared the link publicly months ago and it’s been viewed 15,000+ times and NOW I learn Google is sharing all my info?! Not cool, at all.
Thanks ErmesT, but name and photo are set by default to be shared across platforms and Google doesn’t allow you to change that.
Which makes sense, to a point, but it is not at ALL obvious that by sharing a map you’re sharing that info; like I said, I checked extensively before deciding to share it and couldn’t see anything linking it to me at all (since it’s buried in Google Drive and not visible in the map settings at all).
I think Google is at fault here. If they want to make this info uneditable, that’s their prerogative, but then it should warn us that sharing any kind of user-generated map cannot be done without being attached to our name and profile photo. Which I think is stupid, but they should at least tell us.
Yes, absolutely that’s a solution - I’m mainly annoyed because I didn’t know I needed to come up with a solution at all; there is literally NO indication when sharing a map that any personal details are visible at all. I chose to share the link only; I didn’t make it searchable; I didn’t share via social media or Google Drive, but STILL my info is out there. That’s just infuriating.
And I’m so tired of having to have new accounts for things. I don’t want an additional account. I want Google to let me CHOOSE how much info I share. That doesn’t seem too much to ask.
Active members receive a lot of notifications, and they can miss some of them if they don’t know that the reply is addressed to them.
Back to the subject of your post, a My Maps needs to be linked to an account for being created. The author is always visible for “ownership and author right”. The same happens to every photo and review you add In Google Maps, and this also if you choose to lock your account.
