14 DAY TRIAL // Google is taking it one small step at a time with Google+, like it does with much of its products. Since the social network launched, there have been several enhancements and additions.
One of the key focuses of Google+ has been privacy and the site is now introducing a new option that should come in very handy for the more privacy conscious or when you want more control over your stuff.
Users can now "lock" their photo albums, a privacy feature that's separate from the visibility privacy option, which means that no one can reshare the photos you've posted.
Locking a photo album will make it impossible for anyone outside of the people you directly shared it with to see it.
"We're rolling out the ability to lock an album, which prevents others from resharing it," Google engineer Matt Steiner announced on Google+, where else.
"You can lock an album from two places -- your Photos page, or album posts in the Stream -- and when you do a few things happen: - Viewers won't be able to +mention new people; - Photo tags by viewers won’t expand who can see your album; - All of your posts about your album will also be locked," he explained.
It's easy to see why an option like this is great. One of the biggest questions when sharing something online is, who is going to see it. Even with Google+, which has the great Circles feature, you can't be sure that the ones in your circles won't share the photos with someone else.
With the Lock feature, you know exactly who sees the album and the photos. Of course, your friends could always save a photo and share it in some other way, but it's still a big step up from not having any control.