News - Security Issues

Google Buzz criticized for disclosing Gmail contacts

At issue is a feature that compiles a list of the Gmail contacts who users most frequently e-mail or chat with. Buzz automatically starts following these people and makes the list public, meaning strangers can see who Buzz users have been in contact with.

However, Buzz only shares information about other people who are using Buzz and have set up public profiles in Google. So currently, most Gmail users are not publicly listed by the service. Users can also "unfollow" people who they don't want to be linked to.

While Buzz requires users to set up a public profile before they can post messages, it does give them an option to hide who they are following and who is following them. However, the default setting is to make the information public, and only users who click on an "edit" tab can see the choice to opt out. This option is found on a user's profile setting. Once logged in to the profile page, there is a link to "Edit profile." After clicking this link, a user can opt out by unchecking the option "Display the list of people I'm following and people following me."