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Parents, Privacy Watchdogs Up in Arms Against Google Buzz

Guest post by: Dennis Schooley

Article Overview: The latest buzz about Google Buzz is that it makes children especially vulnerable to loss of privacy.

Parents, Privacy Watchdogs Up in Arms Against Google Buzz

The latest buzz about Google Buzz is that it makes children especially vulnerable to loss of privacy.

Google Buzz already tweaked its privacy settings yet parents and privacy watchdogs are still concerned that the new social networking service, which automatically allows users to set up public social networks with their Gmail contacts, exposes children to online predators and other dangers.

"Google buzz is a new danger zone for children," says privacy expert Kathryn Montgomery. Montgomery, an American University professor, wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google Buzz's potential risks to kids.

Privacy groups are taking a special interest in the case after a technology analyst complained that Google Buzz-the search giant's answer to Facebook and Twitter-publicly shared her 9-year-old daughter's private conversation without the child's knowledge. Technology analyst Charlene Li was even more shocked when she found out that her daughter's classmates were chatting with strangers.

For those not yet familiar with this latest information-sharing tool, Google Buzz allows users to share ideas, photos, links and videos publicly either to the world or to select friends. Since it is built right into Gmail, the comments can be accessed directly through the inbox.

Like Twitter, Google Buzz allows users to follow other users. To turn off the Buzz, they may click on the link at the bottom of the Gmail page.

The Buzz may also be accessed through mobile phones (through buzz.google.com) and users may locate their position from a one-button press.

Earlier, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) urged the FTC to look into possible violations by Google Buzz of privacy and federal wiretap laws. EPIC filed the complaint with the FTC days after Google modified its privacy settings in response to privacy concerns which flooded cyberspace after its launch.

In its official Gmail blog, Google acknowledged its shortcomings and vowed to continue improving Google Buzz based on user feedback.

One flaw that users and bloggers harped about was that Google Buzz by default allowed a person's list of contacts and followers to be visible. The new privacy settings make it easier to hide one's followers and block users.

To ensure that users have a "positive experience" with the Buzz, Google also published its content policies. Violations may result in the user's access to Buzz or Google account getting blocked.

An excellent tool if used properly

For all the negative buzz surrounding the latest social networking service, however, many still view it as a positive tool if properly used. They say it's just a matter of letting Google Buzz's privacy options work for its users.

David Coursey of PC World observed that Google Buzz may even top Facebook as an effective tool for business networking. Google Buzz even has better policies to protect user data than Facebook, wrote Coursey, who came up with a list of the pros and cons of using Google Buzz.

Another blogger, Adam Ostrow, said Google Buzz has unique features that make it an ideal tool for businesses to prosper. Ostrow listed 5 opportunities for small businesses that Buzz provides.

Some in the blogosphere believe that the onslaught of criticisms levelled against Google Buzz is a bit too much and tends to overshadow its benefits.

"Those people who are naturally distrusting of large companies with high market share are aggressively looking for ways to highlight weakness or issues with Google Buzz. While Google no doubt made some early missteps, and has apologized for them, the reaction has far outweighed the potential issues," Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray tells WebProNews.

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Article Tags: google buzz, information, marketing, online, privacy, tool



Related Forum Posts
Re: Google Buzz - Any Thoughts? - Hi Alfanzo, Yes, I have heard that some people are looking towards Google Buzz as an alternative to Facebook because it has better privacy settings.
Re: Google Buzz - Any Thoughts? - [quote="Trent Brownrigg":suimkaob]I'm not too big into these social sites but Buzz looks to be just as good as the next. I have started using it more and more.[/quote:suimkaob] How are you finding it Trent. I haven't got around to it yet have been very busy with offline work and so my time has been limited and have used it adding more articles etc to my website. Still have Buzz on my to do list. MichelleJ
Re: Google Buzz - Any Thoughts? - [quote="MichelleJ":3u0447fv][quote="Trent Brownrigg":3u0447fv]I'm not too big into these social sites but Buzz looks to be just as good as the next. I have started using it more and more.[/quote:3u0447fv] How are you finding it Trent. I haven't got around to it yet have been very busy with offline work and so my time has been limited and have used it adding more articles etc to my website. Still have Buzz on my to do list. MichelleJ[/quote:3u0447fv] It seems to be similar to Twitter but you are not limited in length on what you write and people can directly reply to your updates kind of like on Facebook. It's sort of a cross between the two. I like it better than Twitter but not as much as Facebook so it's somewhere in between in my opinion.
Re: Google Buzz - Any Thoughts? - I'm not too big into these social sites but Buzz looks to be just as good as the next. I have started using it more and more.
How Do You Check Google Ranking? - Now that Google is so responsive to your own search history, how can you get a good idea of what your Google ranking really is for your web pages? Whenever I check my ranking for specific keywords on Google, my web pages appear on the front page, or suspiciously high. My way around this is to check Google ranking via other computer Internet links, i.e., whenever I'm working in a library I will use a library computer to check. I check Google ranking before logging into my Gmail or other Google-related accounts. Does anybody else have any other tips for discovering your Google ranking? Nowadays, I check Bing.com for my webpage ranking as it gives a much less favourable (and so, I guess, "truer") ranking for my webpages than Google does...


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