Hibnick v. Google, Inc. explained

Hibnick v. Google, Inc.
Court:	United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Full Name:	Eva Hibnick v. Google Inc. (In re: Google Buzz Privacy Litigation)
Date Decided:	October 7, 2010
Docket:	5:10-cv-00672
Judge:	James Ware

Hibnick v. Google, Inc. was a class action suit brought by Eva Hibnick, a Harvard Law School graduate, against Google in 2010. The suit accused Google of breaching several electronic communications laws with the launch of their new product Google Buzz.^{[1] [2] [3]} Google Buzz was a social media network that automatically plugged into Gmail.

Hibnick v. Google^[4] was filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California and accused Google of being in breach of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Google Buzz shared private information by revealing Gmail users’ contacts and automatically opted all Gmail users into using Google Buzz.^[5]

The lawsuit settled for $8.5 million, 30% of which went to the attorneys.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Streib, Lauren. "Harvard Law Student Files Class Action Suit Against Google Over Buzz", Business Insider, 18 February 2010. Retrieved on 08 October 2014.
2. http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2010/02/17/local-class-action-complaint-filed-over-google-buzz/#ixzz0fvOtShh0 "Local class action complaint filed over Google Buzz"
3. Heussner, Ki Mae. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/google-buzz-draws-class-action-suit-harvard-student/story?id=9875095 "Google Buzz Draws Class-Action Suit From Harvard Student"
4. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/5:2010cv00672/224341 "Hibnick v. Google Inc."
5. Magid, Larry."Google Buzz Raises Privacy and Safety Concerns", "Huffington Post", 11 April 2010.
6. Parr, Ben. "Google Settles Buzz Privacy Lawsuit for $8.5 Million", "Mashable", 03 September 2010.