Forbes recommends Google should stop lying about not being evil.

I fought against Google+'s real names policy, in fact I deleted my account. Eventually i rejoined because my online friend invited and it seemed the policy was cemented due to the somewhat muted backlash.

That said, i do understand Google for thinking like that. Google's user base is more techie than other social networks. In fact it functions more like a news feed from friends of similar interest. If you dig down into the nature of tech-driven people throughout Google you'll find people who are more open and transparent because they see facts & information as somewhat more valid than personality. This can also lead to a naive understanding or simplistic view of human nature. That's simply the black & whiteness of a tech-oriented person who deals with complex data rather better than with the complexity of real people and the many foibles and inconsistencies thereof.

When then CEO Eric Schmidt was asked, "People are treating Google like their most trusted friend. Should they be?"

He answered, "I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines, including Google, do retain this information for some time. And it’s important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that information could be made available to the authorities."

Simplistic view, but totally factual response. He was a coder before he was CEO. This explains his view of evolving technology as a transparency mechanism. When in 2010, Schmidt expressed that technology is good, and the only way to manage the challenges is "much greater transparency and no anonymity" he was adhering to positive ideals. In reality we know that technology is only as good as the person that uses it. Only later, in 2013, did he express concern that sharing of personal information was too rampant and could have a negative effect, particularly on teenagers, stating that "we have never had a generation with a full photographic, digital record of what they did".

The upshot is that tech is a double-edged sword, and it's difficult for good intentioned designers to conceive of all ill-intending uses no matter how smart they are. Einstein was a peace activist, yet his equations and later influence led to nuclear bombs being dropped on Japan. This wasn't in any way his decision, but a direct consequence nonetheless. We can't "unexist" technology just because it has negative uses by ill-intentioned people. We can only hope that good people outweigh the bad and that the greater balance is positive.