Google seeks to quell Buzz privacy outcry

Google sought on Thursday night to quell an outcry over the privacy settings in its new Buzz social networking service, which critics have claimed exposes personal information about users without their approval.

The Internet company acknowledged the concerns raised by the service, launched just two days before, and announced changes designed to stem the fears, though these did not directly address all the complaints from some critics. The outcry has centered on the way Buzz automatically creates a social network for new users by drawing on the people they communicate with most frequently over Gmail, Google's e-mail system. This list of personal e-mail contacts is then made public over Buzz by default, although users can choose to override the system to hide it.