Google's social network accused of breaking privacy laws
Google's new social networking service offered through their e-mail client Gmail, has been accused of breaking privacy laws, leading the internet giant to revise its Google Buzz once again.
These allegations come from the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC), who have launched a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
EPIC state that Buzz, which is integrated into Google’s Gmail service, is “Deceptive” and breaks the consumer protection law.
Despite Google trying to improve and implement changes to their Buzz service EPIC say that Google still hasn't gone far enough."
“Twitter is a social networking site and people know what they are signing up for. With Gmail, users signed up for an e-mail service not a social networking service."
"Despite all the changes, they still do not give users a meaningful way to opt into it."
The lack of a user opt-in feature has been the main controversy surrounding Google Buzz since it was rolled out to Gmail users last week. With many users criticising the ready-made circle of friends automatically created by the service, which is based on contacts emailed most regularly.
Although the service was tested before it was rolled out to Gmail users, Google admitted that testing done on it may have been inadequate, stating: "We've been testing Buzz internally at Google for a while. Of course, getting feedback from 20,000 Googlers isn't quite the same as letting Gmail users play with Buzz in the wild."










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