German government criticizes Google's Buzz service

Internet giant Google came under attack from the German government on Saturday for disregarding privacy with the launch of its new social networking service, Buzz, dpa reported.

Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner described Buzz - which updates users on other people's internet activities - as "a massive intrusion on privacy," in an interview with German Focus news magazine.

The service is integrated into Google email accounts, allowing users to distribute pictures, links, videos and documents in real time. It has been criticized for automatically sending updates to all of an account holder's frequent email contacts.

"It shocks me when a corporation does not even respect the private data of its customers and uninvolved third parties," Aigner told Focus, comparing the service to a video shop hanging out lists of all its clients' choices.

The criticism comes weeks after Aigner warned Google that the government was considering legal moves to prevent the firm's Street View from displaying photos taken of cities and streets, as these could violate privacy.

Google has been swamped with complaints about privacy violations after launching Buzz earlier this month, and has since announced changes to the service.  

In future, according to Google, Buzz will not automatically send updates to all of a user's frequent contacts, but will instead suggest they might add them to their network of people able to view these messages.