Google debacle...

Class action lawsuite email:

Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we've reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz, a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users' concerns. In addition, 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.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at Google Buzz User Privacy Litigation Class Action Settlement Website.

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This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google Inc. | 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway | Mountain View, CA 94043

So... apparently Google, who always likes to stress how serious they are with protecting our privacy in almost every interview I see them in, made a big mess of things recently with their attempt to compete with Facebook and Twitter.

If I am understanding things correctly Google took it upon themselves to sign me (and millions of other users) up for some social networking Facebook clone (I didn't even know about), and if that wasn't bad enough they linked all the individuals I exchange emails with to my profile.

Did they not see anything wrong with any of this?

It seems they just wanted to sign as many members as possible on to this new service (which seems to be garbage according to most people) and saw leveraging their vast gmail user-base as an ethical solution.

I'm starting to question whether or not I should still use my gmail account and their search page.

More information on the subject: @nytimes.com, @class action website

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Google Buzz debuted 8 months ago. If you didn't know about it and then activated it, you wouldn't have been affected at all by the fallout in February.

Many people are reporting that Gmail's spam filters caught this mass mailing as spam. I find this amusing for some reason.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah I always wondered what that weird icon in my gmail was; I never really bothered trying to figure out though. I guess this is somewhat old news, I just learned of it today though with the mass email that was sent out.

On a somewhat funny note reading the class action website I saw this:

3. Why is there a Settlement?

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiffs or Google. Instead, both sides agreed to settle this case to avoid the cost and risk of trial. The Settlement does not mean that any law was broken or that the Google did anything wrong. Google denies all legal claims in this case. The Class Representatives and their lawyers think the Settlement is in the best interest of the Class Members.

Those lawyers are going to get rich, that is why they settled..! They probably don't give a crap about any of the plaintiffs they were supposed to be representing. A big chunk of the $8.5 million I'm thinking is going right into their pockets. I'm probably going to opt out of the settlement so they lose a few cents.

I need to become one of these class action lawyers... $$$

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.