Google Buzz exposed your Gmail contacts to the public — a $8.5M privacy disaster

On February 9, 2010, Google launched Buzz, a social networking and microblogging service integrated into Gmail. It was Google's attempt to compete with Facebook and Twitter. Within 56 hours of launch, 9 million posts were made. But the launch was a privacy catastrophe: Google automatically opted users into Buzz and publicly displayed their most-frequently emailed Gmail contacts on their Google Profile.

The automatic disclosure created real harm. One woman's most-frequent contacts included her current workplace and partner — and her abusive ex-husband. The mobile version defaulted to publishing a user's exact location. The backlash was immediate and furious. A Harvard Law School student filed a class-action lawsuit on February 16, 2010, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the FTC.

Google settled the class-action lawsuit for $8.5 million in 2011, funding groups promoting privacy education. The FTC settlement required Google to implement a comprehensive privacy program and submit to independent privacy audits for 20 years. On October 14, 2011, Google announced it would discontinue Buzz to focus on Google+. The service was shut down on December 15, 2011 — less than two years after launch.