14 DAY TRIAL // Google is still feeling the fallout from the failed Buzz launch. The privacy issues that arose after Buzz was pushed on Gmail users gave Google a lot of headaches, but it also got it a federal investigation. That investigation is now over as Google and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached an agreement.
The FTC charged Google with "deceptive privacy practices" and investigated the issue. According to the agreement, Google will have to be submitted to a privacy audit every two years and it can't push changes relating to privacy on users without prior consent.
"The launch of Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards for transparency and user control—letting our users and Google down," Alma Whitten, Director of Privacy at Google, wrote.
"While we worked quickly to make improvements, regulators—including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission—unsurprisingly wanted more detail about what went wrong and how we could prevent it from happening again," she added.
"Today, we’ve reached an agreement with the FTC to address their concerns. We’ll receive an independent review of our privacy procedures once every two years, and we’ll ask users to give us affirmative consent before we change how we share their personal information," she announced.
Essentially, it's still a slap on the wrist for Google, but it's a hassle nonetheless. But the FTC couldn't let it slide since Google really did botch up that launch.
Initially, the Gmail contacts you engaged with the most were automatically to your Buzz connections. But those connections were public, meaning that anyone had a great way of knowing who you talked to the most something that many people have solid reasons not to disclose and certainly not do so without their consent or even knowledge.
Google has apologized again and promised that it has implemented changes that make this type of mistakes harder to make. A second mishap wouldn't fly well with the FTC either which is now monitoring Google's actions more closely.