Here's the Buzz: Don't mess with our e-mail!

After years of pushing the boundaries of privacy, Google appears to have finally stepped over the line. And it wasn't because of Street View, which allows people to see pictures of your home online, or facial recognition technology, which will soon allow us to photograph people and run automatic identity checks.

No, Google ran into trouble because they decided to mess with our e-mail.

Along with a lot of other tech companies, Google has silently watched from the sidelines as Facebook built an unprecedented global community of 400 million people through its social networking application. That's a feat that Google would love to emulate.

But instead of starting its own social network, it decided it already had one in the form of its 176 million Gmail customers. What could be simpler? Just take each person's e-mail account and open it up so everyone can see everyone else. After all, isn't an e-mail trail just another form of News Feed? And isn't an e-mail address book just another Friend list?

Apparently not, according to numerous privacy groups and thousands of outraged Gmail users.

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), summed up the feelings of most of the aggrieved parties. "E-mail is for private messages. You sign up for social networking to communicate publicly with people. Google tried to turn e-mail into social networking, and that's where they ran into trouble."

Apparently, Gmail users were startled to realize that all their most active e-mail contacts could now see each other, including "husbands, ex-boyfriends, psychics and weight counselors" as one blogger put it.   

Since the firestorm broke late last week, Google has quickly switched into full-time damage control. Gmail and Buzz product manager, Todd Jackson, issued an apology and quickly announced changes to the service, allowing Gmail users to opt-in rather than opt-out.

The apology and changes have failed to appease all the critics. The EPIC has gone ahead and filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission asking for more changes, and there has even been a suggestion that Google violated wiretap laws.

At least the Buzz controversy shows that there is a limit to how open we will allow our online lives to be. However, in an age where it appears everyone has a web site, a blog, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account, it's ironic that good old e-mail is now seen as the last bastion of private communication.
 

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