Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Settles Buzz Privacy Suit

Posted by timothy on from the lawyers-win-the-pie dept.

bouldin writes "This evening, Google e-mailed Gmail users who had been invited to Google Buzz to advise of settlement on a class-action privacy suit. The class action suit alleged privacy breaches due to the default privacy settings when Google rolled out the service. Terms of the settlement include $8 million to cover lawyer fees and fund privacy policy education on the Internet, but do not include cash payouts to Gmail users. With several outstanding class action privacy suits against Facebook and Zynga, it is interesting to see Google set this precedent."

8 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. Precedent? by Kirijini · · Score: 4, Informative

    What precedent? Settling a privacy class action suit by promising to pay millions to fund some kind of privacy foundation, and no payment to individual users?

    Facebook did that last year when it settled the class action suit over its "beacon" program.

  2. Re:Lawyers and Consultants keep the cash! by Goody · · Score: 3, Informative

    Opt out of the settlement and sue them yourself to get your justice.

    --
    Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
  3. Important: Read This! by QuantumG · · Score: 3, Informative

    First of all, this only affects US citizens.

    If you used GMail after February 9, 2010 then you *must* opt out of this settlement or you will lose your right to sue Google for privacy violations - forever - with no compensation.

    To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a letter or other written document by mail saying that you want
    to be excluded from In re Google Buzz User Privacy Litigation, No. 5:10-cv-00672-JW. Be sure to include your full
    name, address, reason why you want out of the Settlement, as well as proof that you used Gmail at some point after February 9, 2010, your signature, and the date. You must mail your request for exclusion so that it is received no later
    than December 6, 2010, to:

    CLASS ACTION ADMINISTRATOR

    In re Google Buzz User Privacy Litigation
    c/o The Garden City Group, Inc.
    P.O. Box 91088
    Seattle, WA 98111-9188

    You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone, by email, or at the website. An exclusion request is not a claim for payment.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Important: Read This! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      you will lose your right to sue Google for privacy violations - forever - with no compensation.

      I don't think that's true. AFAIK, You only waive your right to sue Google for claims settled in this particular case. A clarification from a lawyer would be nice.

    2. Re:Important: Read This! by flyingkillerrobots · · Score: 2, Informative
      IANAL, but from the website (emphasis mine):

      What are my options? [...] Do nothing - Give up your rights to sue Google about the legal claims in this case and thereby accept the terms of this Settlement.

      You do not forfeit anything other than for this case. And if they are lying, you have a new case anyway.

      --
      "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations..." -Winston Churchill
    3. Re:Important: Read This! by fishexe · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sigh. *read the settlement*.

      Ummm...I did? Because it was sent to me. Quote: "Give up your rights to sue Google about the legal claims in this case and thereby accept the terms of this Settlement." The legal claims in this case are the claims related to the specific privacy violations happening at a specific time that were brought up in the suit when it was filed. They are not "privacy, generally". As a matter of law, "the legal claims in this case" can never mean, "privacy, generally".

      Will you never learn?

      Will you never think logically? Or educate yourself about the law before making claims about it? Or stop being a condescending prick to people who know more than you?

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
  4. Re:Did I miss something? by jspenguin1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The point is, if you used GMail, you were signed up for Buzz without any warning - If you never "used" Buzz, you still had a public profile, listing everyone you "follow" - which by default was the people you e-mailed the most.

  5. Re:even if they gave me money by JackieBrown · · Score: 2, Informative

    Could you take your lips off Google's ass for a second and acknowledge that it shouldn't be the burden of the user to navigate a company's privacy settings just to avoid having their email history revealed to the world?

    The user's email history was not exposed. The profile (account name) was.