Google Buzz Privacy Policy

October 15, 2010

The Google Privacy Policy describes how we treat personal information when you use Google's products and services, including information provided when you use Google Buzz. In addition, the following describes our additional privacy practices specific to Google Buzz.

Personal Information

In order to post in Buzz, or to comment on or "like" other people's posts, you need to have a public Google profile which at a minimum includes your first and last name.

When you first enter Google Buzz, to make the startup experience easier, we may automatically suggest people for you to follow based on the people you email and chat with most. Similarly, we may also suggest to others that they automatically follow you. You can review and edit the list of people you follow and block people from following you.

Your name, photo, and the list of people you follow and people following you will be displayed on your Google profile, which is publicly searchable on the Web. You may opt out of displaying the list of people following you and who you're following on your profile.

If you are following someone who publicly displays their list of followers on their Google profile, then you will appear on that person's public list. Likewise, if someone is following you and displays the list of people they follow on their profile, then you will appear on that public list.

Any recipient of a post can add additional people to the post via an "@reply." This is similar to adding additional recipients to a pre-existing email thread. All recipients of a private post can see the list of people who have received it, including those added via "@reply."

When you use Google Buzz, we may record information about your use of the product, such as the posts you like or comment on and the other users with whom you communicate, in order to provide you with a better experience on Buzz and other Google services and to improve the quality of Google services.

Your activity on "connected sites" (such as Picasa Web Albums or Twitter) may be shared in Google Buzz. You may review and revise the list of connected sites in order to choose which sites to maintain as "connected" to Google Buzz.

If you use Google Buzz on a mobile device and choose to view "nearby" posts, your location will be collected by Google. If you use a mobile device to create a post which shares your location, then your location will be collected by Google and displayed to other users, as described when you first attempt to use Buzz on a mobile device. You may thereafter opt out of the collection and display of your location on a per-post basis or choose to exclude your location from all of your posts, except when you're creating a Buzz post in a Maps product where you're publishing the post on a map.

For mobile, we may store some data -- such as your user profile photograph and your location -- locally on your mobile device in order to reduce latency.

Uses

Our uses of the information you provide to us are described in the Google Privacy Policy.

In addition, if you upload a photo via the Buzz interface or choose to email images to buzz@gmail.com, we will include those photos in a Picasa web album and create a Google Picasa account on your behalf if you don't already have one. The Picasa Privacy Policy will apply to your use of our Picasa service.

If you use Google Buzz on a mobile device, we may display your location-based posts to users who seek to view Buzz posts "nearby" the location where you created your update.

Your Choices

For each of your Google Buzz posts (except for those created on your mobile device for posting on a map or via the mobile visual shortcut), you have the choice of whether to post it to the "public" -- which means it will be published on your public Google profile on the Web and to all users of Google Buzz -- or to post it to a private list of contacts that you create.

You may choose to access Google Buzz through third-party applications (e.g. non-Google websites) by authorizing these applications to access your Google Account via their Access Request page. If you choose to use such a third-party app, the developer of that application will have access to the private buzz posts you've sent, to the lists of people following you and people you're following, and to public content you view in Google Buzz. The developer may also request additional information from you -- such as your location for mobile features of Google Buzz -- and must comply with our Developer Policies in their collection and use of such information. You can revoke the developer's access to your Google Account at any time by visiting this settings page, which will prevent the developer from accessing content created after the time you revoke access.

You may review and revise the list of people you follow and people who follow you. You also may opt out of displaying the list of people you follow and people who follow you on your Google profile.

You may review and revise the list of connected sites in order to choose which sites to maintain as "connected" to Google Buzz.

If you chose to delete your Google profile, your Buzz posts will be deleted, but the comments and "likes" you have made on other people's posts will not be deleted. You have the option to remove your comments on others' posts individually if you'd like. Residual copies of deleted material may take up to 60 days to be deleted from our active servers and may remain in our backup systems.

When posting on Buzz via your mobile device, you may opt out of the collection and display of your location on a per-post basis or choose to exclude your location from all of your posts, except when you're creating a post in a Maps product where you're publishing the post on a map.

For data stored locally on your mobile device, you may be able to access and clear this information in the browser settings on your mobile device, depending on your browser.

More information

Google adheres to the U.S. Safe Harbor privacy principles. For more information about the Safe Harbor framework or our registration, see the Department of Commerce's web site.

For more information about our privacy practices, go to the full privacy policy.