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Online rights advocates on Wednesday called on US regulators to investigate whether Google broke privacy laws when it launched its Buzz social networking feature for Gmail last week.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) argued that the Internet giant "violated user expectations, diminished user privacy, contradicted Google's privacy policy, and may have violated federal wiretap laws."
EPIC wants the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to open an investigation into Google Buzz, which launched with a feature that automatically set up public social networks built from Gmail contacts people messaged often.
Facing a slew of privacy complaints, Google swiftly changed the new Buzz feature at its free Internet email service.
Gmail users now have to create Google Buzz public profiles and get notified that "lists of people you follow and the people following you will be displayed on your public profile."
Google is also giving users the ability to block anyone following their account.
Google Buzz allows Gmail users to get updates about what friends are doing online and offers ways to share video, photos and other digitized snippets in a challenge to social networking stars Facebook and Twitter.
Google has gone on record saying it didn't test Buzz enough before releasing it and that the service will evolve with feedback from users.
The EPIC complaint calls on the FTC to compel Google to make Buzz "opt-in" only and stop mining Gmail contact lists for social networking candidates.
"This is a significant breach of consumers expectations of privacy," said EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg.
"Google should not be allowed to push users' personal information into a social network they never requested."
