Google on Tuesday said it reached a settlement in a group action suit(诉讼)againstthe search giantover privacy breakings related to its Buzz socials networking program. In the settlement, Google agreed to pay $ 8.5 million into a fund (基金)for privacy education the company made clear that the agreement did not include cash payments to users. Buzz, started last February as an application within Gmail, in some cases exposed the lists of persons touched and other data of users to other Gmail users. How did the company warn users that they were included in the settlement? By Gmail of course. "Google rarely inform Gmail users via email, but this time we let you know that we've reached a settlement regarding Google Buzz," the firm said in messages sent to its U. S. users. Some analysts think the company has 170 million Gmail users worldwide. "The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users'concerns," Google wrote. Google said that everyone in the United States who uses Gmail was included in the settlement unless they decide to take no party before December 6, 2010. On January 31, 2011 the U. S. distriet Court for the Northem District of California in San Jose will hold a fairness hearing on the settlement. Google is under increasing pressure from federal regulators (监管者) for privacy problem involving Buzz and its Street View mapping service. Last week, the FTC closed its looking into Google's collection of Wi - Fi data with Street View mapping cars, saying the company had made sufficient promises to get rid of data it collected and strengthen its privacy training among employees. |