FTC Probe Of Google Buzz Urged
Google finds itself under fresh criticism over the privacy of its new social networking site called Buzz. The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a complaint with the FTC claiming that Google Buzz violates consumer protection law.
EPIC said Google should be urged to change Buzz to make it an opt-in service. The service has been criticized for using Google Gmail users address book contacts for Google Buzz social networking lists. Despite changes to Google Buzz since its launch last week, EPIC said that privacy violations remain, noting for example that users are still required to opt out of using the service.
"While email senders and recipients always have an opportunity to disclose email-related information to third parties, email service providers have a particular responsibility to safeguard the personal information that subscribers provide," EPIC argued in its complaint filed Tuesday.
In a post Sunday on Google's public policy blog, Google Managing Policy Counsel Pablo Chavez said the firm has "heard your concerns loud and clear, and we've already taken steps to address them." He noted that Google has made Google Buzz's privacy controls more "visible and useful" and said it also it would be making additional changes. These include "modifying the start-up process so that you review our suggestions for people to follow (rather than automatically following them from the get-go), and adding a Buzz tab to the Gmail settings page so that privacy controls are more easily accessible."
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus