WARNING! Google Buzz Automatically Exposes Gmail Information

[LrdElderon]

I'm one of those ancient ones who have no need to share my every thought, movement, and personal data with the world. Not for me.

Agreed. I must be very old school because I just don't get why people are so willing to put so much personal information in the public domain. The wife had a coworker that was out on paid sick leave that posted pictures of herself dancing on a table at a bar on her facebook account. She told one of the other coworkers about it who in turn was showing another as the office manager was walking by, position terminated. I also know an in depth search of internet activities is performed as part of the hiring process where she works. I can google a couple of things I posted in a newsgroup in 1993 and I cringe every time I read them. Although not incriminating in any way I sure wish there was a way I could delete them. Nowadays I work very hard to keep my real name off of the net.

theres a difference between sharing personal information and being completely stupid....

Also I'm not seeing this problem at all. how the heck are people seeing your entire contact list? only thing I can see on any buzz is merely who maybe following it so unless all your contacts are following your buzz.....?

what am I missing here? Ok i checked on my phone and there is not contact list or anything of the sort so I hopped onto my google account on the computer and went to google maps to see if i could find buzzes... not really but i saw the profiles option and maybe I'm missing something here but IT"S ALL BLANK. the only way it will show your email, any personal info or contacts aside from your name, whatever pic you used, and location if set it to record is if you go in and set it all to show YOURSELF. I think it's safe for people to remove the tinfoil hats now.

 

[gentlefury]

too bad all the paranoia is bull****. Set your profile as private...block anyone from viewing it and dont post...you won't have to be bothered by it....anyway, who is really that conceded to think they are going to be stalked because of a social network.

Buzz is great....if you dont like it dont use it.

 

[edthesped]

too bad all the paranoia is bull****. Set your profile as private...block anyone from viewing it and dont post...you won't have to be bothered by it....anyway, who is really that conceded to think they are going to be stalked because of a social network.

Buzz is great....if you dont like it dont use it.

The "paranoia" is not bull. Most will likely never be stalked but internet activities are considered as part of the hiring and promotions process in many companies and it will likely become more prevalent in the future. I know my wife gets a synopsis of a persons internet activity for every serious candidate interviewed and its content definitely plays a role in the decision as to whether or not a person is accepted into her program.

FWIW, my profile was set to private the first day it was out and if I ever do get the desire to buzz, I'll set up an alias account to do it.

 

[iPirate]

too bad all the paranoia is bull****. Set your profile as private...block anyone from viewing it and dont post...you won't have to be bothered by it....anyway, who is really that conceded to think they are going to be stalked because of a social network.

Buzz is great....if you dont like it dont use it.

The "paranoia" is not bull. Most will likely never be stalked but internet activities are considered as part of the hiring and promotions process in many companies and it will likely become more prevalent in the future. I know my wife gets a synopsis of a persons internet activity for every serious candidate interviewed and its content definitely plays a role in the decision as to whether or not a person is accepted into her program.

FWIW, my profile was set to private the first day it was out and if I ever do get the desire to buzz, I'll set up an alias account to do it.

Or you could just not buzz stupid stuff...

 

[zakany]

The "paranoia" is not bull.

Actually, I think it is. I have an extensive contact list on gmail, on my phone, etc. I've used Buzz. I don't see my contact list anywhere through Buzz. I did not set anything to private, or whatnot. All used as-is.

Really, I find it odd that people express concern over public posting by posting in public.

 

[TimChgo9]

I know for a fact that many companies, and public safety agencies, when hiring, will check out a potential employee's internet activities. i/e Facebook, MySpace, etc. This is a growing trend, and will continue to grow.

I know too many people who are way too free with what they tell the world. And I know too many people who are way too free with the photos of themselves that they post on their FB and MySpace pages. I know of one case where someone lost out on a job opportunity, because of an untoward photo on her MySpace page.

Remember, the internet is forever..... When you post something on a forum, blog, or social network page..it's out in the ether, and it will be read by God only knows who. I Googled myself and found that an old forum post that I thought I deleted, years ago, had been copied and cross posted to another forum, prior to my deleting it (it wasn't controversial, just stupid) I have found photos from my online photo portfolio have been linked in various forum discussions, copied to other people's pages. I can see if someone has linked to one of my photos via Google search, Yahoo Search, Bing, or what have you. I have had one of my photos looked up about 200 times, and linked in 4 different forums. None of this is bad, because none of what I have put up is immoral, illegal, or fattening, it just shows the reach of the internet, and it's power as well.

About 3 years ago, my Network+ instructor told the class that the best way to stay safe on the internet was to not go on it.....

 

[SSHGuru]

I am using Buzz mostly to see what the people around me are saying. And I use the maps feature to do it.

But one very good use of it was posting that I needed a cheap website built and I got several reply-buzzes from people who lived in my area.

It is amusing though I saw one hottie post she had a girl crush on the 16 year old singer at the olympics. I was forced to post "sweet" in response.

 

[edthesped]

The "paranoia" is not bull.

Actually, I think it is. I have an extensive contact list on gmail, on my phone, etc. I've used Buzz. I don't see my contact list anywhere through Buzz. I did not set anything to private, or whatnot. All used as-is.

Really, I find it odd that people express concern over public posting by posting in public.

The difference is that neither you or the operators of this forum are able to determine my true identity from information provided on this forum. There is a difference between posting with your true identity and an alias and when most people use buzz they are posting with their true identity. Granted when I played with buzz I went into my profile and changed my name prior to posting, now I'm sure Google knows who I am but no one local did. In the end forewarned is forearmed applies, posting online is more permanent than a tattoo and everything you post has the potential to come back and bite you in the a$$ when you least expect it, maybe decades later. If you are comfortable knowing that I say go for it.

 

[jbernard703]

I can see this being a major issue for any deep cover agents, adulterers, spooks, organized crime members or whistle blowers. If you do not fall into one of these categories please get a hold of yourself. No one cares about you, you are not famous and no one is stalking you or trying to learn your secrets. Nobody is trying to acquire your Guild Masters email or Clan Members IMs. Your concerns for online privacy are therefore purely theoretical and have as much importance to your current life as time travel or anti-matter. Thank you and have a nice day.

 

[edthesped]

I can see this being a major issue for any deep cover agents, adulterers, spooks, organized crime members or whistle blowers. If you do not fall into one of these categories please get a hold of yourself. No one cares about you, you are not famous and no one is stalking you or trying to learn your secrets. Nobody is trying to acquire your Guild Masters email or Clan Members IMs. Your concerns for online privacy are therefore purely theoretical and have as much importance to your current life as time travel or anti-matter. Thank you and have a nice day.

To the contrary, it can also be a determining factor if you ever plan on climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program. A person's public activities say much about character and can and will be used against them and if you don't believe it you are only fooling yourself. The sad part is that if a persons online activities are the reason they are not promoted, hired or accepted into a program, they will likely never know it was the reason why. People tend to shed manners and decorum when posting online thus showing much about their true character and corporations and academic programs are very concerned about the character of their employees and representatives.

 

[jbernard703]

I can see this being a major issue for any deep cover agents, adulterers, spooks, organized crime members or whistle blowers. If you do not fall into one of these categories please get a hold of yourself. No one cares about you, you are not famous and no one is stalking you or trying to learn your secrets. Nobody is trying to acquire your Guild Masters email or Clan Members IMs. Your concerns for online privacy are therefore purely theoretical and have as much importance to your current life as time travel or anti-matter. Thank you and have a nice day.

To the contrary, it can also be a determining factor if you ever plan on climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program. A person's public activities say much about character and can and will be used against them and if you don't believe it you are only fooling yourself. The sad part is that if a persons online activities are the reason they are not promoted, hired or accepted into a program, they will likely never know it was the reason why. People tend to shed manners and decorum when posting online thus showing much about their true character and corporations and academic programs are very concerned about the character of their employees and representatives.

If your not intelligent enough to already know the adverse effect of posting childish or illegal activities online then you are probably ill equipped for "climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program."

 

[joeymoose]

It's funny and sad because it's so true... Priceless

I can see this being a major issue for any deep cover agents, adulterers, spooks, organized crime members or whistle blowers. If you do not fall into one of these categories please get a hold of yourself. No one cares about you, you are not famous and no one is stalking you or trying to learn your secrets. Nobody is trying to acquire your Guild Masters email or Clan Members IMs. Your concerns for online privacy are therefore purely theoretical and have as much importance to your current life as time travel or anti-matter. Thank you and have a nice day.

To the contrary, it can also be a determining factor if you ever plan on climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program. A person's public activities say much about character and can and will be used against them and if you don't believe it you are only fooling yourself. The sad part is that if a persons online activities are the reason they are not promoted, hired or accepted into a program, they will likely never know it was the reason why. People tend to shed manners and decorum when posting online thus showing much about their true character and corporations and academic programs are very concerned about the character of their employees and representatives.

If your not intelligent enough to already know the adverse effect of posting childish or illegal activities online then you are probably ill equipped for "climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program."

 

[Sleeve]

Welp, since the first I read about this was on my news feeds, it got mainstream enough for Google to do something about it.

I have one person I'm following that I've chatted with. In my profile, all the contact info page is empty and there are no checkmarks set to on indicating that people would be able to see my information.

All I can see as enabled without my action is that my buzzes can be seen by the person that I chatted with and I can see their buzzes. I don't see anything else, based on whatever changes Google has made to Buzz, that would cause a leak of privacy across my contacts that I know from my current job, past jobs, my industry in general, and my family.

Chatting required some form of opt in pairing that we wanted to talk to each other. I have not chatted with my contacts, so they aren't following me. Most of them aren't on gmail, so I won't be following them either.

I don't and won't use Twitter, Facebook or Myspace, I didn't grow up on Barney. I'm not expecting much more than novelty from Buzz, but I'm not going to run and hide from it. I just have to think about it like a large open mic. The first thing they coach you on at theladders.com is to scrub any compromising content from your online persona. Fortunately, I've been sleeve since I used UMinn gopher, back when I used to read most of alt. every day, all the way through my IRC phase, and in every newsgroup and forum except those where I need to use my real name because they are directly associated with my work and I'm communicating in corporate tone.

When in public, act like you're in public and you have nothing to fear. If you don't know if you're in public, look before you drop your pants.

 

[edthesped]

.........................
If your not intelligent enough to already know the adverse effect of posting childish or illegal activities online then you are probably ill equipped for "climbing a corporate ladder or gaining admission to a prestigious academic program."

One would think so wouldn't they? My experience, yes I work with a lot of highly educated people, is that intelligence and common sense are not mutually exclusive.

There is a little more to it than "childish or illegal activities" i.e. how will this person contribute to the program? Will they be able to work well with others? Are they trustworthy? and so on...

 

[gentlefury]

The "paranoia" is not bull.

Actually, I think it is. I have an extensive contact list on gmail, on my phone, etc. I've used Buzz. I don't see my contact list anywhere through Buzz. I did not set anything to private, or whatnot. All used as-is.

Really, I find it odd that people express concern over public posting by posting in public.

The difference is that neither you or the operators of this forum are able to determine my true identity from information provided on this forum. There is a difference between posting with your true identity and an alias and when most people use buzz they are posting with their true identity. Granted when I played with buzz I went into my profile and changed my name prior to posting, now I'm sure Google knows who I am but no one local did. In the end forewarned is forearmed applies, posting online is more permanent than a tattoo and everything you post has the potential to come back and bite you in the a$$ when you least expect it, maybe decades later. If you are comfortable knowing that I say go for it.

I think the real difference is, noone really cares enough to determine your "true identity!"

Seems like most people that are afraid of internet privacy issues are those that are either paranoid of conceded. I am typing this and I honestly don't even remember your callsign....that is how much I care to find out anything about you....and I am not alone in this.

Using a name actually adds a sense of responsibility and civility...you can't hide behind an avatar when it's your name and potentially location in the flame.

As for employers checking online presence before deciding to hire someone, firstly they better be quiet about that, since it is discrimination and illegal...secondly, if you are a jackass online you are probably a jackass in life...so use a degree of restraint with what you present online and you have nothing to fear!