Folks! I think you're all overreacting a little bit with the privacy violations in Google Buzz. Yes, I agree that they have/had some serious flaws, but that will all be ironed out in a couple of weeks for sure. Read a couple of articles on what to watch out for and go on with your business. I don't see a reason for anything more than a "note to self" being generated by these security problems.
Here is what I think happened:
Google meant for Buzz to be something closer to Twitter than a tool to have conversations with groups of friends. They designed Buzz to be a way of publicly broadcasting the little news and goings on, and they even made it geo located to make the "local buzz" geographically relevant. Then we all started using it like it was wave.
So watch your back a bit, and if you want a different example of how Google might be doing a little more than you intended check out Google History. Probably without your knowledge, you may have been keeping record of all of your Google searches, all of your maps and directions, videos and more. If someone hacked your email account they'd gain access to a tremendous amount of information, not just about you, but about what you've done daily over the last years. Freaky. Go turn it off and purge it.
Good to see you back, if only for a little bit.
Posted by: Friartucksfleetingthoughts.blogspot.com | February 14, 2010 at 11:28 PM