Google Buzz: Privacy Flaw Could be Stumbling Block

Google has launched a service to directly compete with Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert), but according to a report in the Business Insider, Google (News - Alert) Buzz has a privacy flaw.

What appears to be a design of convenience, Google Buzz automatically sets up users with followers and people to follow based on those individuals users e-mail and chat with the most through Gmail.

The issue with this approach is this list of people is made public to anyone who looks at your profile. Even if you plan to immediately change your settings in Google Buzz, someone can still go into your profile and see the people you e-mail and chat with most of the time – information some may not want public.

If this is turning you off Google Buzz right away, click here to go and change those settings immediately. This is an important link to have as Google does not right away state on the first page that you need to opt-out of this setting.

In a section of text that does well to just blend in with the page, it reads, 'Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about the things you find interesting. You're already set up to follow the people you email and chat with the most.'

Nicholas Carlson, of the Business Insider and the one who wrote the report, highlighted that the dialogue box does mention that Google Buzz automatically sets up your followers and who you will follow, but the box does not have to be closed to use the service. If a user closes the box, it does not trigger a warning or any other alter to notify the user that they have agreed to publish a list of people they e-mail and chat with the most.

As Carlson states: “Google should just ask users: ‘Do you want to follow these people we've suggested you follow based on the fact that you email and chat with them? Warning: This will expose to the public who you email and chat with most. Google should not let users proceed to using Buzz until they click, ‘Yes, publish these lists.’”

Consider the possible implications: a husband notices his wife e-mails and chats with the gentleman across the street much more than a neighborly amount; a boss discovers his subordinate is e-mailing back and forth with executives at a top competitor.

According to Google, the default is in place to make it quick and easy for users to get set up and started. The benefits for Google are obvious as it can quickly gain users through this method. For those who wish to keep their lists from prying eyes, this feature is not the preferred method.

Below is a statement from Google as posted in the Business Insider:

'We thought very carefully about how to create a great experience in Google Buzz with as minimal setup as possible. We designed our auto-following system to enable users to immediately see content from the people they email and chat with most, so when they start using Buzz, it 'just works.' If users are automatically followed to anyone they'd rather not follow, it's easy to remove these individuals during the auto-following step by clicking on the 'edit' link and then clicking 'unfollow' next to their names.

After that, the first time the user creates a post or comment, we ask them to create a profile, principally so they have a name to display next to their post.  There's more information on why you need a profile here. In this profile creation step, we inform users that the lists of people they follow and people following them will be displayed on their profile, and make it easy to view and edit these lists. We also make it possible to hide the lists of people they're following and people following them from their profile.'

In other Google news, the Internet giant is ready to build a super high-speed broadband network for up to half a million people around the United States to experiment with the possibility. This network will be designed to run 100 times faster than the speed of any network currently available.