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It's not FUD. I don't have a Google Profile, but Buzz was automatically activated (even though I clicked the no/cancel/whatever-it-said-because-it-totally-ignor

by wooster 17y ago

It's not FUD. I don't have a Google Profile, but Buzz was automatically activated (even though I clicked the no/cancel/whatever-it-said-because-it-totally-ignored-me-anyway button) when I logged into GMail. I don't care if it was made public. If I had a profile, and it was made public, that would not have made things better. That would be worse. I should not need to understand the subtle privacy interplay of several different and seemingly unrelated Google products just because I use one of them (Gmail).

gwc 17y ago
I should not need to understand the subtle privacy interplay of several different and seemingly unrelated Google products just because I use one of them (Gmail). I entirely agree with this, although I'll point out that IIRC Google Chat did the same thing in terms of modifying gmail but no-one seemed to really object to that. Buzz seems to be different because of the privacy issues, i.e. Google didn't communicate well what would happen (specifically a public profile that included your follower/followee lists) if you clicked "yes". That there's a new link on the left-hand menu can't really be the main issue, is it? As far as FUD, I'm specifically referring to comments like this: There is absolutely no way to opt out of Buzz. http://twitter.com/etherial/status/9023625277 http://twitter.com/etherial/status/9023625277 It IS possible to opt out of Buzz, ~ its just that its counter-intuitive and once you've hit the "Yes" button, somewhat difficult to undo.
- emily37 17y ago
  I've been wondering the same thing: why does it bother me so much that Buzz auto-follows frequently-emailed contacts, but it doesn't bother me that gchat automatically adds frequently-emailed contacts? I think it might be because having contacts added in gchat doesn't mean I'll actually be communicating with them, whereas auto-follow does mean that some communication will take place... I'm not sure though. Also, I guess that having a strictly professional contact's name sitting in my gchat contacts list is different than that person being notified that I'm following them.
  - orangecat 17y ago
    why does it bother me so much that Buzz auto-follows frequently-emailed contacts Because in combination with the default of having your follow list public, that exposes who you've been emailing to the world.

by wooster 17y ago

gwc 17y ago

I should not need to understand the subtle privacy interplay of several different and seemingly unrelated Google products just because I use one of them (Gmail). I entirely agree with this, although I'll point out that IIRC Google Chat did the same thing in terms of modifying gmail but no-one seemed to really object to that. Buzz seems to be different because of the privacy issues, i.e. Google didn't communicate well what would happen (specifically a public profile that included your follower/followee lists) if you clicked "yes". That there's a new link on the left-hand menu can't really be the main issue, is it? As far as FUD, I'm specifically referring to comments like this: There is absolutely no way to opt out of Buzz. http://twitter.com/etherial/status/9023625277 http://twitter.com/etherial/status/9023625277 It IS possible to opt out of Buzz, ~ its just that its counter-intuitive and once you've hit the "Yes" button, somewhat difficult to undo.

emily37 17y ago
I've been wondering the same thing: why does it bother me so much that Buzz auto-follows frequently-emailed contacts, but it doesn't bother me that gchat automatically adds frequently-emailed contacts? I think it might be because having contacts added in gchat doesn't mean I'll actually be communicating with them, whereas auto-follow does mean that some communication will take place... I'm not sure though. Also, I guess that having a strictly professional contact's name sitting in my gchat contacts list is different than that person being notified that I'm following them.
- orangecat 17y ago
  why does it bother me so much that Buzz auto-follows frequently-emailed contacts Because in combination with the default of having your follow list public, that exposes who you've been emailing to the world.