Summary

The guest list was already in the inbox

On 9 February 2010, Google announced Buzz as a new way to talk about links, pictures and ideas. It sat inside Gmail. Its most marketable feature was the absence of work: users did not have to build a circle of friends from scratch. The service would automatically set them to follow the people they emailed and chatted with most. Google described this as bringing the social network already underneath Gmail to the surface.

That sentence turned a product decision into a theory of consent. A frequent correspondent is someone whose address appears in the history of a private tool. A public follower is a relationship presented by a social tool. The first can help sort an inbox. The second can tell strangers whom a person associates with. Buzz was designed to cross that line before the user had assembled a network for the new purpose.

The FTC's administrative complaint laid out the mechanics. It said Google used Gmail account names and email contacts to populate Buzz and that users were, in many instances, set up with followers without advance notice or a chance to consent. The opening screen advertised that users were already following frequent contacts. To reach the inbox, a person selected either an invitation to look at Buzz or “Nah, go to my inbox.” The second button sounded like an exit from the offer. According to the complaint, it did not close every path by which that person could be followed or appear on a public profile.

The difference mattered most to people for whom a contact list was not a social invitation. An email exchange with a professional, a school or a person from whom someone wanted distance could become evidence of an association in a different setting. The FTC reported thousands of complaints about disclosure of email contacts. The public stake lay in who chose to turn a private pattern of correspondence into a visible social connection.

Turning off the tab did not unwind the graph

The complaint was specific about the interface. Clicking “Turn off Buzz” removed the Buzz tab from Gmail. For some users who had entered the product, the FTC alleged, that action still left them listed as followers on other people's Google profiles and Buzz pages. The off switch changed what the user saw in the inbox; it did not necessarily erase what others could see about the user. That is a sharper failure than a confusing button label. It separates hiding a product from undoing a relationship that the product created.

Google said in its March 2011 response that the launch fell short of its standards for transparency and user control. It said it had made changes and reached an agreement with the FTC. Those words came after the original defaults had already been presented to Gmail users. The firm that had chosen the shortcut now had to explain how future product changes would handle the information it already held.

The FTC complaint also set the earlier promises beside the launch. Gmail's privacy policy said the service stored messages, contacts and related data to provide Gmail. Google's broader policy said it would ask for consent before using personal information for a different purpose. The FTC charged that Buzz used Gmail information for social networking without that advance consent. Google accepted an order with duties that reached beyond Buzz.

A two-year product acquired a twenty-year clock

The FTC's final approval in October 2011 turned the proposed settlement into an operative obligation. The order's Part II required clear, separate disclosure and express affirmative consent before certain new sharing of identified user information with third parties. Its scope was specific: the sharing had to change the stated practices in effect when the information was collected and result from a product or service change. Part III required a documented privacy program addressing risks in product development and operation. Part IV required an initial independent assessment and then an assessment every two years for twenty years.

That calendar outlasted the product. On 14 October 2011, Google announced that Buzz and its API would shut down in a few weeks as it focused on Google+. People would still be able to view existing content on their Google Profile and download it with Google Takeout. The notice did not give an exact final day. The order did not go away with the Buzz button. It governed how Google would use information across products long after Buzz stopped attracting new posts.