YouTube/Google up the ante in the privacy wars

So you’re sick of Facebook gradually nudging you towards completely doing away with all pretense of a private life?  YouTube/Google have made the latest move in the online privacy wars.  You remember when you started signing in to YouTube with your gmail username and password?  And then the whole Google+ / circles thing happened.

Now Google wants you to delete your YouTube username in favor of your real name.  Although they make it like they are offering you something cool and you are adopting it voluntarily because it’s such an awesome thing, it’s pretty clear this is all about finding a way to market it in such a way that you’ll do what they want.  This is what you’re told when you ask for more information:

It’s now possible for you to use your full name from your Google+ profile, so that you have the same name on YouTube as on all other Google products and services.

This option may be of interest to you if:

  • You want to keep one consistent identity across YouTube, Google, and the web. Your Google+ name and photo will appear on your existing YouTube channel.
  • Your old YouTube username no longer represents you or your interests; you’ve outgrown it and want a new username.
  • You’d like to use your full name on YouTube. Using your full name on YouTube will help your friends find you and your videos, and make it easier to share.
  • You want to access new features that integrate Google products and services with YouTube. This includes improved sharing, live broadcasts through Hangouts On Air, and more to come.

You’ll see this option when you upload or comment on YouTube, or you can find out how to start the process yourself here. For partners, brands, and organizations, you won’t see this just yet. In the coming months we’ll be working on new options to give you even more control over your presence on YouTube.

I worry a little about what these “new options” are going to be that they’re working on.  I get the sense that this is going to be like the Facebook Timeline – inevitable – and all those creepy ads that appear as a result of the content in your emails on Gmail will soon get their eerily accurate counterpart in YouTube.

On the plus side, all the anonymity that came with YouTube usernames is soon likely to be a thing of the past.  YouTube does remind you that you will have the option of reviewing everything you have posted over the years and deciding whether or not to continue associating it with your new public identity.  But I hope that at least a few people will click “accept” before they realize that the hateful little troll comments they have posted over the years will now be publicly associated with their real identities.

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