Google Addresses Buzz Privacy Concerns
Google is asking users of its Buzz social networking and messaging tool to confirm or change their privacy settings today, a move that comes just days after U.S. Congressmen asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the online service.
"Shortly after launching Google Buzz, we quickly realized we didn’t get everything right and moved as fast as possible to improve the Buzz experience," Buzz product manager Todd Jackson said in a recent blog post. "Offering everyone who uses our products transparency and control is very important to us."
Buzz has been the target of much criticism since its February 9 release. Just eight days after its launch, The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the FTC accusing the Gmail-affiliated social network of violating consumer protection laws, due partially to the fact that users were automatically enrolled in the service without being asked for their consent.
On February 18, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Florida resident Eva Hibnick. The suit, which was filed in San Jose federal court, accuses Google of violating multiple electronic communications laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, according to SFGate.com. Hibnick was reportedly seeking to bring the complaint forward on behalf of more than 31 million Gmail users, and was seeking both an injunction against Buzz and monetary damages.
Then on March 29, 11 members of the U.S. House of Representatives asked the FTC to investigate whether or not Google breached consumer privacy with the Buzz launch. They highlighted one case in which a 9-year-old girl accidentally had her information shared with another user that had a "sexually charged" username, according to PC World online reports. The Congressmen also asked Google to explain whether or not they had any plans to deliver targeted advertisements through the service.
Experts believe Monday’s action may help calm criticism of Buzz.
"Google’s taking a step in the right direction by giving every user a big opportunity to change their privacy settings. It had to be done," Ben Parr of Mashable.com, a social medial blog, wrote late Sunday night. "While tomorrow’s move won’t fix the damage that has already been done, perhaps it’ll help get Congress off of its back. If it can appease critics on the privacy issues, then it can tackle the bigger challenge: making Google Buzz into a competitive threat to Twitter and Facebook."
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