Slashdot Mirror
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."
welcome our new, eight million dollar richer, lawyer Overlords.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
They sent me an automatic message into my two Gmail accounts.
Which were then, ironically, filtered into the 'Spam' folder automatically. How awesome is that?
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
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.
Even if Google said I could get $50 from the lawsuit I wouldn't accept it. I have no reason to take Google's $50 when it was up to me to learn about my privacy on Google Buzz. Plus, Google has done so much for me in the past that it would be like stealing money from a friend. Cannot do that. Freakin lawyers, bunch of [my attorney has advised me not to complete this sentence].
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/ .
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.
Ironic that the only way to opt out of the privacy settlement is to mail in your full name, address, phone number and signature.
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.
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.
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.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
you lost your privacy?
hmm, have you tried searching on google?
This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
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.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009