Google creates privacy concerns with Gmail and Google+ email address sharing plans

Google has raised questions over privacy with the announcement of a new Gmail feature that allows users to email people without knowing their email addresses. The function, which links users' Gmail and Google+ contact lists, will be opt-out, so users who do not want to receive unsolicited emails will have to alter their privacy settings.
Every Google+ user – apart from celebrities and public figures with many followers – will by default be able to receive messages from anybody using Gmail who has added them to their Circles. The email address of the recipient is not revealed unless they reply (pictured below). This policy differs slightly to Facebook, which allows users to reply but keeps the interactions within the Facebook platform.

With Gmail, emails sent in this way will end up in the "social" section of a user's inbox, which separates marketing, personal and social media emails into separate inboxes, depending on a user's preference.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told Reuters the new feature was "troubling", likening it to the Google Buzz tool, which automatically created social networks based on users' email address books. Google Buzz was shut down in 2013 after the firm settled with the Federal Trade Commission two years earlier.
Google is making the most of Gmail's huge user base, attempting to entice users to its other products such as Google+. While the Google+ user base continues to grow – to beyond 300 million active users, according to Google – several of the firm's services now require a Google+ sign-up in order to use them, such as YouTube.
Google said in a blog post that it would be sending emails to users to fully explain the change as the feature is gradually rolled out. David Nachum, product manager, tried to explain the positive behind the move: "Have you ever started typing an email to someone only to realize halfway through the draft that you haven't actually exchanged email addresses?"
If you are nodding your head 'yes' and already have a Google+ profile, then you’re in luck, because now it's easier for people using Gmail and Google+ to connect over email."
However, it looks as if Google is opening itself up for another privacy backlash, at a time when it is being hit with fines for its privacy policies in nations across Europe.