Privacy And Buzz: What Have You Got To Hide?
No matter how kick-ass a service is, privacy and control of access is important.
Google Buzz did it backwards. When I signed up for my Gmail account, I signed up for an email address, not a social network. Now that Google has decided to change what Gmail is, they opened it up without my permission.
When you are changing the nature of your product, specifically a closed system to an open one, opening up access is something that the user should allow, not something they should have to work out how to lock back down.
But Google did this so when you started, you had some contacts etc ready to go!
Super, but I never signed up for my Gmail to be used in this way and if Google’s product is to confusing to use, or they suck at explaining how to use it, that’s not my problem.
What do you have to hide?
Nothing, but a person concerned about privacy does not automatically equal they have something to hide. If any other email client opened up access to your contact book in this way, shit would fly.
Social Media’s Golden Rule: Make it an option and make it opt-in.
J
Cheater pants.
Louis Gray
13 Feb 10 at 10:04 am
I agree! Buzz should have been rolled out in Google Labs as a Beta or as an invite only closed Beta for selected users. Users who wanted to try it out should have had to opt-in, just as with all Google Labs products. Doing this, Google would have received tons of valuable feedback from real users before rolling it out to the general public. Doing it this way would not have diminished the impact of the initial public roll out as 95% of the population would not have heard of it prior to public launch.
JeffPHenderson
13 Feb 10 at 11:07 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by kelvin8048: Privacy And Buzz: What Have You Got To Hide? http://j.mp/c6LR61…
uberVU - social comments
13 Feb 10 at 5:06 pm
Мне кажется это замечательная идея…
Now that Google has decided to change what Gmail is, they opened it up without my permission.
When you […….
Alex Gordon
9 Apr 10 at 1:35 pm