Google Buzz Rechecks Privacy Settings

In light of its struggles with user privacy, Google Buzz is double-checking to make sure users have the service setup the way they want. Starting Monday afternoon, Google began showing a “Confirm your Buzz setup” screen when early adopters clicked the Buzz tab in Gmail.

The screen shows who you’re following, and provides links to see who’s following you and what other sites you’ve connected to Buzz. There are clear descriptions throughout the screen that reflect the user’s privacy settings — who sees what, primarily. It’s a welcome idea, but it’s about two months late. (Google Buzz launched on February 9th.)

In a blog post about the new settings screen, Google Buzz Product Manager Todd Jackson repeats that Google “didn’t get everything right” when Buzz launched.

Just last week, a House committee asked the FTC to investigate Google’s actions with the Buzz launch and an outgoing FTC commissioner called the incident “irresponsible conduct” on Google’s part.