Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit

Google filed an agreement on Friday to pay an $8.5 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit over privacy issues raised by Google Buzz that was initiated by a Harvard Law School student last February.

The money will be dispensed into a “common fund” and will eventually be distributed to non-profit groups that advocate for internet privacy.

The lawsuit alleged that Google Buzz—Google’s social networking application—breaches users’ privacy by disclosing personal information without consent.

Seven privacy-related lawsuits were originally filed against Google Buzz, but they were eventually merged into the class action lawsuit filed by the Harvard student Eva S. Hibnick and led by attorney Gary E. Mason. Mediation with Google began in June.

The process for divvying up settlement funds among non-profits is not well defined at this point, according to Mason. Though Mason will legally manage the common fund, members of the class action suit will be involved in generating a list of potential recipients, which must also be approved by Google before being presented to a judge for final review.

Though Mason would not disclose the exact amount sought by the plaintiffs, a similar privacy case against Facebook in which the company paid a $9.5 million settlement served as a benchmark in the negotiations with Google, he said.

One of the plaintiffs’ chief complaints was that Google Buzz operated as an “opt-out” program that Gmail users are automatically signed up for until they choose to deactivate the program.

“They [Google] say that they made a mistake in how they launched Buzz. And I think they will be careful in the future not to disclose personal information inappropriately,” Mason said.

Though Google has made significant privacy changes since the lawsuit was filed last year, Buzz continues to be an opt-out program.

“Google denies [opt-out] was a privacy breach. There isn’t a legal resolution to that,” Mason said.

“But it’s fair to say it was a strong enough of a claim that they were willing to settle it.”

In a blog post published the day the settlement was filed—but not directly referencing the lawsuit—Google’s Associate General Counsel Mike Yang wrote that the company wanted to make its privacy policies “more transparent and understandable.”

A judge is scheduled to preliminarily approve the settlement on Dec. 20, after which interested parties—including Gmail users—have an opportunity to object to the settlement terms before the judge issues a final approval approximately two months later, at which point funds can be disbursed.

The class action lawsuit was first suggested by then third year Law School student Benjamin R. Osborn and was originally filed by Eva S. Hibnick, then a second year Law School student, on behalf of all Gmail users. Hibnick has since withdrawn her name from the lawsuit for personal reasons, according to Mason.

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.