Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit With No Payout to Gmail Users

From PC World: Google on Tuesday said it won preliminary approval to settle a class-action lawsuit related to alleged privacy violations caused by its Buzz service.

The company will pay US$8.5 million into a fund, which will go to organizations focused on Internet privacy education and policy, it said in a statement. The company will also make additional efforts to educate users about the privacy aspects of Buzz.

Google Buzz is a social networking and messaging tool that Google made to be used with its Gmail e-mail service. The class-action against Google alleged that Gmail users were automatically enrolled in Buzz and that their data, including most frequent contacts, was publicly exposed without user consent. Google denied the accuracy of these claims.

Despite the cash settlement, the people represented in the class-action lawsuit, U.S. Gmail users, won't see a penny of the funds.

"Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation," the company said in an e-mail to Gmail users. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail was included in the settlement, unless the user opts out prior to December 6, 2010.

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