How Google Calendar can tip off your boss that you want a raise

Potential privacy leak "feature" continues to take some users by surprise.

by Dan Goodin
Jan 23 2014
Ars Technica

It's a feature that has bitten Google Calendar users in the past, but 
it's worth a reminder: in some cases, the widely used service may 
unexpectedly leak sensitive information to bosses, spouses, or just 
about anyone else.

The inadvertent leakage stems from Google Calendar's quick add 
feature, which is designed to automatically add the who, what, and 
where to events without requiring a user to manually enter those 
details. Typing "Brunch with Mom at Java 11am Sunday" is intended to 
schedule the event for the following Sunday morning at 11 and list 
the place as "Java." Participants can be added by listing their 
e-mail addresses, and in many cases, Google will respond by 
automatically adding an entry to the participants' calendar as well.

Google heavily promoted this time-saving feature during the rollout 
of its mail and calendar services. But as documented as early as 
2010, the behavior can also result in the leakage of private 
information for people who are unaware of it. Alas, almost four years 
later, it's still catching some people by surprise. Blogger Terence 
Eden explained how an entry his wife put in her personal Google 
Calendar made its way to her boss. It read: "e-mail [boss's address] 
to discuss pay rise" and included a date a few months in the future. 
The boss quickly received the reminder as an entry in her own Google 
Calender.

...

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/01/how-google-calendar-can-tip-off-your-boss-you-want-a-raise/


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