Google Buzz is again in critics’ cross-hairs over the fact that the social networking service automatically populates’ users follower lists and begins sharing Picasa and Google Reader content. While Google has always maintained that the approach makes it easier for Gmail users to begin using Buzz with their most frequent contacts, some users have raised concerns about their ability to control such relationships.
After one attempt to address the outcry, Google is again rethinking several of the service’s policies, adding more user control and dropping the auto-population idea entirely. eSecurity Planet takes a look.
For the second time in less than a week, Google is responding to criticism over its Google Buzz feature, revamping the service’s privacy settings again to address user concerns.
Google launched Buzz last week as an enhancement to its Gmail service that makes it a more social experience, layering a social network similar to Facebook atop a user’s existing contacts. It also auto-populates that network with frequently-used contacts.
But critics quickly blasted Google’s privacy settings for the service, which automatically publicly revealed those contacts with whom a user communicates most frequently.