Google Buzz Lawsuit Settled
posted Saturday Nov 6, 2010 by Nicholas DiMeo
Have you heard the buzz? Google Buzz. Google's social project that proved they didn't care about privacy or making things work before they are launched caused them a number of headaches, one of them being a class action lawsuit. Well, the case has been settled.
The best part about this? We were notified by Google via email. No wait, that's not the best part. The best part is after the break! So hit it!
Google's settlement in this case led to them showing in court documents that they "quickly changed the service to address users' concerns". They also settled for a cash amount, $8.5 million. That money will be distributed to, well, nobody. Actually, Google won't have to pay anyone at all after all of this! Instead, Google has found a way to save face, not pay anyone AND create another new tax write-off for them!
Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.
Yes, you read right - a privacy education fund. Instead of educating people about privacy, how about we don't make something that was put together in three days, had countless security flaws and was forced onto a user-base that wasn't aware of its implementation?
I am at a loss for words on how they pulled this off but it is pretty impressive. They got away with it AND found a way to turn it around on the public relations side of things. Man, what I'd give just for a sip of the red-flavored Google-aid.
