Google Statement Not Well Received

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Wednesday, 03 November 2010 06:55

By press release

Google's announcement that it has reached a settlement and will be spending $8.5 million on educating the public on internet privacy has not been well-received.

Online media reports that began circulating shortly after the announcement, labelled the company's tone condescending, and pointed out that there was no apology contained in the statement.

The lawsuit stemmed from Google's 2010 launch of its Buzz feature, which sparked concern about how much of users' personal information was shared with people with whom they regularly corresponded.

The controversial statement is reprinted below:

Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we've reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users
and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users' concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

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Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the US who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011.

This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

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