FTC agrees to Google privacy settlement

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it agreed to a settlement with Google over privacy policies for the Buzz Web site launched last year.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the settlement in which Google said it would revamp its privacy policies. The FTC had said Google violated the FTC Act when it launched the site, The Hill newspaper reported Tuesday.

Google agreed to audits of its privacy practices every two years and agreed to submit a privacy policy plan to the FTC.

Google has also said it would phase out the Buzz program and develop other social networking plans, such as Google+.

As part of its overhaul, last week Google hired Ann Toth, former head of privacy at Yahoo!