Congress Calls For Google Buzz Investigation

[HardOCP News]

With all the other problems in the world solved, Congress is taking on the evil Google Buzz! While everyone agrees something should be done to protect your data…I think those clowns in Washington have more pressing issues right now...then we can talk about Google's evil ways.

Following up on a complaint letter sent by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) to the FTC, eleven members of the House of Representatives have written to John Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC, over Google’s rule as a potential curator of private data.

 

[phide]

*sigh*

 

[srangara]

We should be punishing companies whose lax security result in breaches.

However, if Google Buzz shares all of your data by default (opt-out policy), then that is a problem that needs to be addressed ahead of time. Is there a country whose privacy laws that *doesn't* violate?

 

[Shalafi]

Good ol' Congress, always finding ways to distract themselves and the taxpayers by bringing up issues only a few care about to smokescreen what really goes on in those backroom dealings.

 

[Ualdayan]

We should be punishing companies whose lax security result in breaches.

However, if Google Buzz shares all of your data by default (opt-out policy), then that is a problem that needs to be addressed ahead of time. Is there a country whose privacy laws that *doesn't* violate?

I remember the day they first added it. It popped up a page when I went to log in that explained what Buzz was, and asking me to join. Then it asked me which contacts of mine I wanted added to my 'buzz chain'. It didn't do anything automatically - and this was all the first day they added it. (I check my Gmail everyday)

 

[Cruiza]

One of my favorite quotes is as follows: "If the opposite of pro is con, then what is the opposite of progress?"

 

[srangara]

I remember the day they first added it. It popped up a page when I went to log in that explained what Buzz was, and asking me to join. Then it asked me which contacts of mine I wanted added to my 'buzz chain'. It didn't do anything automatically - and this was all the first day they added it. (I check my Gmail everyday)

Then it's not a problem.

 

[Skolar]

Congressman "Well, most of the nation hates us what should we do?"
Other Congressman "My grandson was talking about "Google Buzz" the other day."
Rabble of Congressmen "What's Google Buzz?"
*calls for "techie" aide to explain what Google Buzz is"
Nancy Pelosi "Google is a monster that must be stopped!"

 

[HOCP4ME]

I remember the day they first added it. It popped up a page when I went to log in that explained what Buzz was, and asking me to join. Then it asked me which contacts of mine I wanted added to my 'buzz chain'. It didn't do anything automatically - and this was all the first day they added it. (I check my Gmail everyday)

Then it's not a problem.

I'm not sure why your experience was different, but this is not how most people were introduced to Google Buzz. Most users (including me) got a simple, "Welcome to Google Buzz," dialog when the feature launched. There were no buttons other than, "okay;" everyone was signed up for the program by default. Moreover, Google went ahead and populated your "following" list with the people you email most often. The problem is, your "following" list is visible in your public profile.

Therefore, on launch day, every Gmail user's conversation habits were made public. Everyone could see who their friends had been talking to and how often. You can imagine how this would cause problems. If an employee had been talking to competitors about a potential new job, his current employer knew. If a guy had been talking to his ex-girlfriend a lot, his current girlfriend knew.

All of this was done automatically, opt-out style, in such a seamless fashion that many user did not even realize their frequent contacts list was now available for viewing, much less understand how to disable this feature.

Granted; Google's response to the issues was swift, and all privacy concerns were addressed within a week of launch. Now, the program is opt-in, and frequent contacts are not shared by default (and users see the screen you described). But it wasn't always like this. Damage has been done, and while I'm virtually never a privacy advocate, I believe the investigation/lawsuits/fallout is justified in this case.

Read about what happened here: http://www.businessinsider.com/warning-google-buzz-has-a-huge-privacy-flaw-2010-2

 

[overkill]

The government can do more than one thing at a time, BTW.

People trust Google way too much. Buzz's implementation was a serious privacy breach. If it takes the government conducting a hearing to make the people see that Google is not God's gift to the internet, I'm all for it.

At the end of the day, Google is in business for 1 thing: profit.

Anyway, do we really need political views being posted in the news feed of a hardware website like this?