Google Makes Google Buzz Privacy Controls More Visible

Google Feb. 11 acknowledged the wicked backlash of privacy concerns over its new Google Buzz social service by improving privacy controls in the service. Users able to access Buzz in Gmail complained when they realized their Buzz contacts were visible in their public Google profile until they edited their default settings to make Buzz lists private in their profiles. Buzz's latitude with user privacy drew more than a few comparisons to Facebook, whose disastrous Beacon service upset individuals.

Google Feb. 11 acknowledged the backlash of privacy concerns over its new Google Buzz social service by making privacy controls in the service more transparent.

Google launched Google Buzz in Gmail, offering a portion of its 176 million Gmail users the ability to post status updates, links, photos and videos. Because Buzz is geared toward making Gmail a more social application, it was automatically set up to follow the people whom users e-mail and chat with most.

Gmail users can follow people whose Buzz posts they choose to see. By default, the setting was public, but users can opt out of displaying the full list of people following them and whom they are following.