We internet speed freaks are getting a bit more savvy about our privacy, which is why even though Google Buzz only just launched this week, already users have privacy concerns, changes have already been made, and more are sure to come.
The L.A. Times Technology blog put it this way: “Displaying lists of users’ friends is standard practice in social networks, but detractors are more concerned with Google Buzz because it’s based on e-mail, a more private means of communication. And since Google Buzz automatically adds a person’s most-contacted individuals to follower lists, it potentially sheds too much light on a user’s e-mail exchanges.”
Eeek! Here’s what some people were quoted as saying in a follow-up article:
• “Don’t set up a new application and have me ‘following’ a bunch of randoms from my address book. That’s not a ‘feature,’ that’s a ‘mistake.’ ”
• “I use my private Gmail account to e-mail my boyfriend and my mother. There’s a BIG drop-off between them and my other ‘most frequent’ contacts. You know who my third most frequent contact is? My abusive ex-husband.”
• “This is one of Google’s biggest blunders,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
He went on to explain that Google might have overreached as it attempted to break into the competitive social networking space, in which it has been outpaced and outmaneuvered by Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc.
“When you sign up for Facebook, you expect certain things. When you sign up for Twitter, you expect certain things. When you sign up for Gmail, you expect e-mail. So when Google turned people’s e-mail contact list into their social network friends list, they got understandably upset,” he said.
Google says it has tweaked Buzz, and may separate it from Gmail.