Google Buzz Class Action Settlement

Google has agreed to pay out $8.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging its Buzz social network violates users’ privacy. The Google Buzz Class Action Lawsuit Settlement provides around $2,500 for each of the seven named plaintiffs in the case. The rest of the settlement money will be placed into a fund to be paid to internet privacy activists to use in their education and policy work.

Google Buzz was launched in February as a social networking and messaging tool that integrates with Gmail and other Google services. Almost immediately after its launch, however, Buzz faced criticism over the fact that its default auto-follow feature revealed private information about its users. Some Gmail users were upset because they were automatically opted in to Buzz, which showed other Buzz users who their email contacts were and revealed their Google accounts to people and allowed them to be “followed” without asking their permission. Some of the most publicized cases of Buzz privacy violations included journalists having sources exposed and a woman who was followed by an abusive ex-husband. Some employees even complained their jobs were put in jeopardy after Google Buzz revealed they were in contact with company competitors.

Since its launch, Google has made numerous changes to the Buzz policy to appease users, including turning off the auto-follow feature and making it easier to opt-out of the service. It also allowed Gmail users to block anyone from following their account. Despite these changes, a class action lawsuit was filed against Google in February alleging Google Buzz broke several electronic communications laws by sharing personal data without user consent.

The Google Buzz Class Action Lawsuit, which can be read here, awaits final approval by the federal court judge presiding over the case. As part of the settlement, Google has also agreed to educate users about the potential privacy impact of using Google Buzz.