Mountain View, California — A price has been put on Google’s mistakes surrounding the launch of Google Buzz: Internet search engine behemoth Google has agreed to shell out US $8.5 million to settle a class-
action lawsuit with seven people who argued that its Google Buzz social-networking service violated users’ privacy when it launched in February.
The suit in question combines several civil cases filed against the company over Google Buzz, which the search engine giant appeared to have rolled out to all Gmail users in February–before it had been publicly tested, with good intentions, allowing users to opt in to a service that lets users share and discuss links, photos and videos with their Gmail contacts.
Unfortunately, by default, Buzz automatically revealed users’ most visited Gmail contacts to the public internet. You did have the option of hiding the list from the public view, but many complained that the checkbox that let you do so was less than prominently displayed.
Regrettably, the company quickly ran into conflict with users who realized their e-mail contacts were being exposed to users of Buzz with whom they did not want to share their contacts. Moreover, the lack of explicit permissions irked people who felt Google was taking too much license with their data.
However, within days, Google scrambled to close these privacy holes and add more user controls, but the damage had been done. Google agreed to move the checkbox to a more prominent position, and it rearranged the way it handles user contacts. But this did not prevent a spate of lawsuits.
Seven individuals filed a class-action suit in San Francisco court, arguing that Google violated privacy law in with Buzz. The proposed settlement was filed Friday in federal court in San Jose, California. The money will cover attorney fees and also be used to fund groups focused on Internet privacy, according to court filings.
According to the AFP said the plaintiffs will receive $2,500 apiece, with most of the settlement money funding organizations focused on Internet privacy policy or privacy education. Some $2 million will go to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
If approved by a judge, the settlement will close a chapter on the ill-fated February launch of Google’s alternative to Facebook.
In a statement Friday, Google said it was “satisfied with the agreement” and “glad to move forward.”
“We have always been committed to offering users transparency and choice in Buzz and all our products, and will continue to work together with users to provide the best user experience possible,” Google said.
The Internet company has come under the privacy scanner for the way it handles the growing amount of sensitive information that its users hand over. This week, Consumer Watchdog — a longtime Google critic — released a creepy video criticizing Google CEO Eric Schmidt and calling for a national Do Not Track Me list, similar to the national Do Not Call list.
Gary Mason, the lead lawyer representing plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, could not immediately be reached for comment.