The daily business briefing: October 9, 2018

Alphabet decides to shut down Google+, Fox hires former White House aide Hope Hicks, and more

A Google Plus sign
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1. Alphabet shutting down Google+

Google parent Alphabet is shutting down its Google+ social network to consumers after data from up to 500,000 users appeared to have been exposed to external developers due to a bug, the company announced in a blog on Monday. Google said it detected the problem and patched the leak in March. The company also said there was no evidence that any developers misused user data or exploited the vulnerability. Still, shares of Alphabet dropped by more than 1 percent on the news of the latest privacy glitch to affect a major tech company. The company reportedly plans to "wind down" Google+, which has "very low usage" among consumers anyway, by August 2019. It will be kept alive for businesses.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.