Google exposed the private data of hundreds of thousands of users of the Google+ social network and then opted not to disclose the issue this past spring, in part because of fears that doing so would draw regulatory scrutiny and cause reputational damage, according to people briefed on the incident and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

据知情人士和《华尔街日报》见到的文件，谷歌曾暴露数十万Google+社交网络用户的私人数据，并在今年春季选择不披露这个问题，原因之一是担忧这样做会招致监管审查，并造成声誉受损。

As part of its response to the incident, the Alphabet Inc. unit announced a sweeping set of data privacy measures that include permanently shutting down all consumer functionality of Google+.

作为对该事件的一个回应，这家Alphabet Inc. 旗下子公司日前宣布了一系列数据隐私措施，其中包括永久性关闭Google+的所有消费者功能。

The move effectively puts the final nail in the coffin of a product that was launched in 2011 to challenge Facebook Inc. and is widely seen as one of Google's biggest failures.

这一举动实际上是对2011年推出的这款旨在挑战Facebook Inc.产品的致命一击，该产品被广泛视为谷歌最大的败笔之一。

 

 

A software glitch in the social site gave outside developers potential access to private Google+ profile data between 2015 and March 2018, when internal investigators discovered and fixed the issue, according to the documents and people briefed on the incident.

据《华尔街日报》见到的文件和知情人士透露，该社交网站上的一个软件漏洞让外部开发者有可能在2015年至2018年3月期间获得Google+私人资料数据，2018年3月内部调查人员发现并解决了这个问题。

A memo reviewed by the Journal prepared by Google's legal and policy staff and shared with senior executives warned that disclosing the incident would likely trigger "immediate regulatory interest" and invite comparisons to Facebook's leak of user information to data firm Cambridge Analytica.

《华尔街日报》见到的由谷歌法律和政策工作人员撰写并与高管分享的一份备忘录警告称，披露这一事件可能会“立即引发监管关注”，并被与Facebook向数据公司Cambridge Analytica泄漏用户信息一事进行比较。

Chief Executive Sundar Pichai was briefed on the plan not to notify users after an internal committee had reached that decision, the people said.

知情人士称，在一个内部委员会做出决定后，谷歌首席执行长桑达尔·皮查伊听取了有关不通知用户计划的简报。

The closure of Google+ is part of a broader review of privacy practices by Google that has determined the company needs tighter controls on several major products, the people said.

知情人士称，Google+关闭计划是谷歌对隐私做法进行广泛评估的一部分，该评估确认了该公司需要加强对几种主要产品的控制。

In its announcement, the company said it is curtailing the access it gives outside developers to user data on Android smartphones and Gmail.

在发表的声明中，谷歌称将限制外部开发者访问安卓智能手机和Gmail的用户数据的权限。