Google Class Action Settlement Of Privacy Class Action Lawsuit Over Google Buzz

If you are a Gmail user who was presented with the opportunity to use Google Buzz, you could be part of a class action Settlement.

A class action settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against Google (“Google” or “Defendant”) pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (styled Eva Hibnick et al. v. Google) alleging that Google violated electronic communications laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act through the Google Buzz social networking service that purportedly shared personal data without the consent of users by automatically including users’ frequent Gmail contacts on public Buzz profiles when Google Buzz first went live in February, according to class action settlement news reports.

The Google Buzz class action settlement reportedly provides that Google will create an $8.5 million settlement fund that, after attorneys’ fees, will go toward “existing organizations focused on Internet privacy policy or privacy education.”  The Google Buzz class action settlement agreement also reportedly acknowledges that Google has made the appropriate changes to Buzz, and privacy threats no longer exist.

The Google Buzz class action settlement reportedly includes the following settlement class members, unless otherwise excluded:

All Gmail users in the United States who were presented with the opportunity to use Google Buzz before November 2, 2010. The Class also includes all representatives, heirs, administrators, executors,
beneficiaries, agents, and assigns of these affected individuals.

The Court is scheduled to hold a class action settlement Fairness Hearing at 9:00 a.m. on January 31, 2011, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, 280 South 1st Street, Courtroom 8, 4th Floor, San Jose, California 95113 to consider whether the proposed Google Buzz class action Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate.

For more information on the Google Buzz class action settlement, read the Google Buzz class action settlement notice or visit the Google Buzz user privacy litigation class action settlement website:

www.buzzclassaction.com

If You Have Thoughts On The Google Buzz Privacy Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Share Your Class Action Settlement Comments Below.