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Google Calendar Privacy flaw adds people to events without asking

Google Calendar Privacy flaw adds people to events without asking
Jonathan Riggall

Jonathan Riggall

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A bug in Google Calendar means you can accidentally invite people mentioned in events you create. If you put an email address in an event description or title, Google will ask you if you want to send invitations to those people, but they will be added to the event and be sent a reminder about it even if you decline.

This bug was probably a feature. Google Calendar recognizes emails, and assumes you want to include people you mention in an event. But it doesn’t give you the option of not including them. We tested the bug, first found and described by Terence Eden.

When you create an event, and mention an email address, a pop up will ask you “Would you like to send invitations to guests?“. Even if you say no, the mentioned email address will still be in the list of guests when you edit the event. Worse still, while they won’t be sent an invitation, they will get a reminder from Google about it.

You can’t turn this feature off. Terence Eden noticed the problem when his wife mentioned her boss in a Calendar event – her boss promptly replied accepting, even though she wasn’t supposed to be invited. If you use a Gmail address in a calendar event, that user will have it added to their calendar whether you want them to or not. They won’t get an email notification, but will get a reminder pop-up. This bug works on the web, but not on Android. It works with some non gmail addresses, but not all. If you delete a calendar event, the user mentioned may get a cancellation notification.

According to The Verge, Google is now looking into the problem. Until something is done, don’t write email addresses in Google Calendar Events unless you are sure you want that person to know about it!

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Jonathan Riggall

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