Google to face privacy reviews for the next 20 years.

Search giant to face independent audits after Google Buzz privacy issues.

Google is to be audited by independent privacy firms for the next 20 years following the use of techniques that wrongly utilised Gmail data to create Google Buzz.

The company ran into controversy during the launch of Buzz because it used Gmail users’ contacts to produce a friends network on the social media platform. The friends list was then made visible to internet users all over the world. However, shortly after the backlash that quickly ensued Google made the contact lists private.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into the privacy flaws in Google Buzz. The regulators commented that when Buzz was launched it utilised “deceptive tactics [that] violated its own privacy promises to consumers.”

Users also complained that the opt out system did not fully remove them from the social media platform. The FTC has said that the full implications of this were not made clear to users that chose to use Google Buzz.

“For users who joined the Buzz network, the controls for limiting the sharing of their personal information were confusing and difficult to find,” commented the FTC through a statement.

Thanks to this latest privacy blunder Google will have the privacy settings on its most popular products reviewed every 2 years for the next 20 years. Alma Whitten the director of privacy in product and engineering at Google has commented that the launch of Google Buzz was below the usual standards that the company adheres to.

Google will now have to regulate their privacy settings far more strictly and provide a more transparent service in regards to data sharing.

“This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honour its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations,” commented FTC chairman, Jon Leibowitz.