Buzz disaster costs Google $8.5 million
2pnet view P2P | Advertising:- US advertising giant Google says it’ll pay $8.5m to settle a lawsuit centering on its Buzz social networking disaster.
“We are increasingly concerned that, too often, the privacy rights of the world’s citizens are being forgotten as Google rolls out new technological applications”, Jennifer Stoddart, federal Canadian privacy commissioner and her opposite numbers in France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, recently told advertising giant Google in a joint letter.
Said p2pnet at the time, “At issue was the beta of its Buzz, the ‘Google Gmail beta social network thingie which blasted private user data across CyberSpace without the permission of the owners’,” going on:
“After huge public outrage, Gargle fixed its ‘beta’ Buzz. But too late. The damage was done. In spades.”
Now, “Google filed an agreement on Friday to pay an $8.5 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit over privacy issues raised by Google Buzz that was initiated by a Harvard Law School student last February”, says the Harvard Crimson.
“The money will be dispensed into a ‘common fund’ and will eventually be distributed to non-profit groups that advocate for internet privacy”, says the story, continuing >>>
The lawsuit alleged that Google Buzz — Google’s social networking application — breaches users’ privacy by disclosing personal information without consent.
Seven privacy-related lawsuits were originally filed against Google Buzz, but they were eventually merged into the class action lawsuit filed by the Harvard student Eva S. Hibnick and led by attorney Gary E. Mason. Mediation with Google began in June.
The process for divvying up settlement funds among non-profits is not well defined at this point, according to Mason. Though Mason will legally manage the common fund, members of the class action suit will be involved in generating a list of potential recipients, which must also be approved by Google before being presented to a judge for final review.
Though Mason would not disclose the exact amount sought by the plaintiffs, a similar privacy case against Facebook in which the company paid a $9.5 million settlement served as a benchmark in the negotiations with Google, he said.
More to come?
Stay tuned.
… and identi.ca
p2pnet - Google and the ‘beta concept’, April 21, 2010
Harvard Crimson – Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit, September 7, 2010
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