Google recently launched Buzz, a new social networking tool, which has already generated a slew of complaints from privacy watchdogs. Buzz is an opt-out  program, meaning that Gmail users are automatically signed up for Buzz, with the option of removing themselves from the Buzz network. In the first version of Buzz,  there was a feature which combed through a user's Gmail inbox to identify people that the user emailed most, and automatically added those people as followers without the user's consent. Google responded to many of the initial complaints by revamping Buzz's functions. The revised version changed the "auto-follow" feature to an "auto-suggest" feature, giving users the option of deciding which followers to add. Buzz also no longer connects to a user's Picasa album or Google Reader shared items.

While Google may have intended to make Buzz a seamless (or automatically linked) interface connecting various web applications, it has instead created a new   internet tool that creates numerous privacy issues. In one case, a blogger lashed out at Google for adding an abusive ex-boyfriend as a follower and displaying private information to him. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has already filed a complaint with the United States Federal Trade Commission charging Google with violating user privacy. It will be interesting to see how Google responds to EPIC's complaint.

Sources:
http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/technology/story.html?id=2577830
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189607/google_buzz_then_and_now.html
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189532/epic_files_privacy_complaint_against_google_buzz.html
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189329/google_apologizes_for_buzz_privacy_issues.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a38:g26:r1:c0.014090:b30759636:z0

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