The introduction of Google’s Buzz network and Facebook’s Beacon service each brought howls from privacy advocates, followed quickly by class actions. In each case, the companies agreed to settle by putting millions into a pot for privacy foundations. And in each case, the settlement terms have themselves been challenged by other privacy and consumer advocates.
The lawyers who put together the Buzz settlement hope the similarities end there, because when the Facebook deal went before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals last month, the judges hated it.
