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Canadian Sues Google Over Its Buzz Program
A Manitoba resident recently commenced a class-action privacy suit against Google over alleged problems with the launch of Google’s Buzz program in early 2010.
Buzz took information from user email and integrated it with social networking accounts like Facebook. Google automatically activated Buzz on user’s Gmail accounts, even though Google had initially informed users they had a choice as to whether or not to activate Buzz. As a result, it was alleged that Buzz publicly exposed a user’s private information, which could contain the user’s occupation, their contact information and where they lived, without their consent.
The lawsuit asked the court to impose a permanent injunction on Google in order to prevent it from operating Buzz in “a deceptive and unfair manner”, which led to the improper disclosure of personal information.
Google was involved in a similar-type of class action privacy lawsuit over Buzz in the United States. Google proposed an $8.5 million settlement in that suit, but did not admit fault.
Under Manitoba law, each privacy breach can result in damages amounting to $5,000.
For additional information, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/Buzz-ClassAction-Lawsuit