Google is considering building a version of its Buzz social-networking service that works outside of Gmail. Less than one day after Google improved the privacy controls in its Google Buzz social service, the company said it is plugging more privacy flaws and is mulling a version of the social service that is not integrated with Gmail.
Google made the latest changes, who’s in those circles could easily be exposed to others without the user even realizing it.
Google introduced Buzz on Tuesday as part of its existing Gmail service. The service includes many of the features that have turned Facebook into the Web’s top spot for fraternizing with friends and family.
In response to the privacy concerns, Google said Thursday that it has tweaked Buzz so you can more easily hide your lists of followers and followees. It also made it easier for you to block specific people from following your Buzz updates, such as links, posts, photos and videos.
Google is counting on Buzz to challenge more-established social-networking services, including Facebook Inc. The company has already tweaked Buzz in response to user concerns about privacy. Google support forums have been filled with questions and complaints. Commented one: “Don’t set up a new application and have me ‘following’ a bunch of randoms from my address book. That’s not a ‘feature,’ that’s a ‘mistake.’ ”
Some privacy experts said that Google had made matters worse by making it difficult for people to hide their lists of Buzz contacts after they realized that those lists had been made public. Some users assumed that they could simply turn off the Buzz service, but that proved inadequate.