Google addresses Buzz privacy concerns

Google Buzz has had a bumpy ride so far

Google has been forced to revisit the privacy settings on its Buzz social networking tool a second time after receiving an avalanche of complaints.

The search giant tapped into the growing social networking market a week ago with Buzz, allowing Gmail users to share real-time updates in a similar way to Twitter.

But it received a wave of complaints from users concerned that the new networking service had been automatically tied to their Gmail account without their consent.

There were also complaints that Google had already selected the Gmail accounts that users would follow based on their most frequent contacts, and made all this information public.

Google made some changes to Buzz last Thursday, but then announced at the weekend that it would be making yet more enhancements in the next few days based on further user feedback.

Users will no longer find themselves automatically following particular accounts, Google said in a blog post, and will instead will find a suggested list.

A Buzz tab will be added to the Gmail Settings tab so that users can hide Buzz from Gmail or disable it completely, Google said.

Finally, Buzz will no longer automatically synchronise with users' Picasa Web Albums and Google Reader.