Google settles Buzz privacy case with FTC, apologizes

Google and the FTC have just announced that they've reached a settlement in the FTC's investigation of Google's privacy violations committed during the rollout of Google Buzz, the company's social network built inside of Gmail.

One of the reasons Buzz never quite took off may have been the enormous backlash surrounding its launch, and Google's handling of Gmail users' privacy. The FTC claims that by not adequately informing users of the privacy issues surrounding Buzz, Google has violated the FTC Act. Specifically, Google didn't properly inform Gmail users that they had the option to decline or leave the social network, and the controls for limiting the sharing of personal information were confusing and difficult to find. If you remember, before the backlash kicked in and Google subsequently backtracked, upon joining Buzz the identities and email addresses of the people you frequently emailed were made public by default. Google received "thousands of emails" complaining about this situation, the FTC claims.

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Google settles Buzz privacy case with FTC, apologizes originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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