The US Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with Google over privacy concerns with Google Buzz, the social network the Internet giant launched last year. The FTC said that under the settlement, Google is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program and will be subject to independent privacy audits for the next 20 years.
"When companies make privacy pledges, they need to honour them," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. "This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honour its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations."
The FTC alleged that the Mountain View, California-based Google used deceptive tactics and violated its privacy promises to consumers when it launched Google Buzz using its Web-based Gmail email service. The settlement bars Google from making "future privacy misrepresentations, requires it to implement a comprehensive privacy program, and calls for regular, independent privacy audits for the next 20 years," the FTC said.