Just 48 hours into the launch of an all new social networking service from Google, called Google Buzz the search giant today announced that, it has now updated the privacy settings for the service, amid a torrent of feedback from users, who have been greatly concerned about their online privacy. The privacy issue came up as the service was seen to publicly display the e-mail IDs of the followers of any user utilizing Google Buzz.

Up until now, the checkbox that allowed the users to control the display of the followers and the users whom they were following was greyed out, thus making it impossible for the users to control the notifications. However, amid rising privacy concerns, Google has now given the option of hiding the details of other users. This is especially beneficial in the case of users who are residents of some of the most controlled states in the world, such as Iran and China, where person’s contacts, could become one the most deciding factors in his freedom of existence.

According to Google,

“We are making it easier to block anyone, by adding “Block” links to the list of people following you. Previously, you were only able to block people from following you after they had created a public profile. Now, you can block anyone, regardless of whether or not they’ve already created profiles for themselves.”

Via Official GMail Blog