Buzz lawsuit costs Google $8.5 million
Google has offered to pay $8.5 million to settle claims brought over privacy concerns with the launch of its social networking site Buzz. The terms of the settlement would mean no individual would hit the jackpot, save for the lawyers.
The case centered on the way that, when the service launched, Google automatically added contacts for users based on their e-mail history. While it was possible to overturn this, and to remove Buzz altogether, the instructions for doing so were not particularly prominent, and the tools being switched on by default made this too late in many cases.
While for most people it was a case of annoyance rather than harm, one high profile complaint saw a woman complain several aspects of her online activity had been made available to an abusive ex-partner who only appeared on her e-mail contact list because he had sent her unwanted messages in the past.
Reports this week that Google has been fined or otherwise ordered to pay the money. In fact the settlement has formally been proposed by Google (albeit through negotiation) and is awaiting court approval.
The terms of the settlement mean that, although the lawsuit was filed on a class action basis, Google will only pay seven claimants any cash, and that will be limited to $2,500 apiece. Around one third of the settlement will go to the lawyers, with the remaining money going to a fund for Internet privacy groups.
Another aspect of the settlement is that Google agreed to make its privacy policies clearer. That explains a company blog post on the subject last week.
The most amusing element of the settlement document is that it states the plaintiffs “believe these claims possess substantial merit”, notes ” Google has denied and continues to deny each and every allegation and all charges of wrongdoing or liability of any kind whatsoever asserted”, but still concludes the settlement is designed “to put to rest all controversy.”
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