R.I.P., Google Reader.
After having its hand slapped for information collection and exposure mishaps -- from Buzz to, most recently, Wi-Spy -- Google is wary of running afoul of regulators over privacy mistakes. Liz Gannes at AllThingsD reports that company sources tell her this fear was part of the reason for the company's unpopular decision to pull the plug on Google Reader:
[T]he shutdown wasn’t just a matter of company culture and bigger priorities, sources said. Google is also trying to better orient itself so that it stops getting into trouble with repeated missteps around compliance issues, particularly privacy.
That means every team needs to have people dedicated to dealing with these compliance and privacy issues — lawyers, policy experts, etc. Google didn’t even have a product manager or full-time engineer responsible for Reader when it was killed, so the company didn’t want to add in the additional infrastructure and staff, the sources said.
If nothing else, this is great anti-privacy spin by Google: "Privacy regulators are forcing us to kill the things you love. Are you happy now?"
