Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Bramak. On today's show, a surprise resignation in Trump's cabinet and how the mystery over a missing Saudi journalist could threaten tech deals.

But first, the last great leak. Maybe. Google yesterday disclosed that it had inadvertently made lots of user data publicly accessible related to its Google Plus product. And for those who don't remember Google Plus, which is likely most of you, it was Google's botched attempt in 2011 to create a social network to compete with Facebook and Twitter. People used it for a few minutes, and then almost everyone stopped,

except for some senior Google executives who still used it for public company announcements.

But on the leak, here's the big news here.

It's not new.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google first learned about it in the spring,

but decided not to tell anyone.

And that wasn't just lower-level engineers.

The decision went all the way up to the CEO.

And in its response yesterday to the journal story, Google basically shrugged its shoulders,

saying it didn't learn of anyone actually accessing the data,

and that since so few people use Google Plus anyway, it's not that big a deal.

No, that's not terribly reassuring,

particularly for those of us who still use Google

products like Gmail. And in fact, the only silver lining here might be that Google probably

won't be able to pull this sort of thing anymore, nor will other Silicon Valley companies.

Because all of them are now subject to a big European privacy law called GDPR, which requires

them to disclose data leaks within 72 hours of learning about them.

And if you want to do the math, 72 hours is less time than from back in the spring until October.

Now, to be sure, GDPR is not a silver bullet.

For starters, 72 hours might not always be enough time to plug the holes or identify intruders.

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