Google Settles Buzz Privacy Suit

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."

Comments

I for one

[ColdWetDog]

welcome our new, eight million dollar richer, lawyer Overlords.

Re:I for one

[N1AK]

Crazy isn't it. I got this same email (as a UK resident it has no relevance to me) and find the whole concept so totally distasteful.

Some lawyers received $2,125,000 for suing Google and getting their clients (all american gmail users) no compensation at all. How can people tolerate the idea that a lawyer is profiteering in their name (if you use Gmail and are American you were included in this settlement). Class action lawsuits like this seem to exist as a way for lawyers to extort companies, it certainly had nothing to do with compensating the people who allegedly had their privacy invaded. I doubt if you asked the people who this lawsuit was in the name of they would have thought settling for $0 compensation, $6.275mil privacy group funding and $2.125mil lawyer bonaza was acceptable. In Fact how on earth is it ok for the lawyers to settle without the agreement of the person the suit is in the name of!?

Re:Precedent?

[Skarecrow77]

"oops, we harmed you. we admit it. our bad. So uh, we're legally liable for it, but we've decided to pay somebody else. you know, someone who's not you. just letting you know."

Re:even if they gave me money

[hawguy]

It shouldn't be up to the user to "learn about my privacy" and how to control it -- it should be incumbent upon the company that holds my personal data to not release it without my explicit consent. Revealing to the world who I chat and email with the most was not a smart move on their part.

If I post something on my Facebook wall, I expect the world to be able to see it - even if I've only allowed my "friends" to see it, I understand that I have no control over the data after my friends see it.

However, if I send a lot of emails to my ex-girlfriend, I don't want my wife to find out about it when she sees my Google Buzz followers.

Re:Official link

[itamblyn]

Follow the link provided in the email and then press "FAQ" on the website. RTFE(Read the fucking email).

So your method of confirming that an email is real is to click on links in said email. Flawless.

Re:even if they gave me money

[MrEricSir]

Look, I enjoy Google's products as well but I think you're missing the point here; Google Buzz automatically took everyone on Gmail and published their contact list to the public.

What kind of friend gives away your private information without your permission?

Re:Lawyers and Consultants keep the cash!

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

What is the value of your privacy? How do you quantify the damage caused by loss of said privacy?

This is the problem with lawsuits that try to reduce everything to dollar amounts. That might be an objective measure in some sense, but the value of the most important things in life is rarely measured in cash, and often compensation for losing them can't be measured in cash either.

Re:Precedent?

[EdIII]

Well I hear in Zynga's lawsuit their proposed settlement includes the ChickenHawk (+150 ATK,+150 DEF) for Mafiawars, and 10 free chickens in Farmville.

As a buzz user who cares about privacy

[fishexe]

As a frequent Buzz user who also cares deeply about online privacy, this settlement seems just about right to me. I would much rather my fellow users were educated about how to protect their privacy online than have a few extra pennies in my pocket (and that is about what this would amount to if paid out in cash to every class member). I actually wish more class action settlements would end like this. How many times have I been notified that I was part of a class winning a class action only to be informed my share was less than my time was worth to read the damn letter in the first place? (I'll tell you: three times). In any one of those cases I would much rather that my share had been aggregated together with every other class member's and put to a good cause.