Been reading about a product that Google appears to have sprung on GMail users that raises significant privacy and security concerns. Here's an excerpt from an article I'm linking:

"Google piggy-backed  Buzz --  a hybrid social network that's part Facebook, part Twitter -- onto the  Gmail accounts of the 176 million users of its free online email service. .... a Google algorithm selects up to 50 of your Gmail contacts and designates them as your Buzz followers, or folks interested in any Twitter-like microblogs you might post Internet-wide. Google then makes this pre-designated list of  your followers, as well as the list of people it  has designated you to follow,  available Internet-wide."

There is an option to "turn off" Buzz but I can't help but wonder what else is going on in the background. Time to find another - hopefully secure and private - email service.

Here's the article:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/02/google-buzz-facing-privacy-security-storm-1/1

And was surprised that I had followers within hours.

If people want to utilize that feature it should be an opt in as opposed to an opt out. That it was done without permission really ticked me off.