Google Buzz conversations can not be made private.  When you access your Buzz settings (within Gmail click Settings  --> Buzz), you have the option to control what Buzz updates come to your inbox, connect other websites to your Buzz, display or hide your 'followers' and 'following' lists, show or not show posts you comment on or like within your public profile, and show or hide Buzz in Gmail, or disable Buzz.  

Buzz, like all Google products is searchable and public.  The only way to ensure Buzz conversations can not be seen by the public is to prevent the conversations from ever happening. 

Since appropriate content and digital footprint are major concerns about the ways our students use technology, we are educating students about their digital voice and modeling appropriate use of technology in classrooms on a regular basis.  

Here are some links for further information on the subject, including the Harvard Law School lawsuit against Google Buzz. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Buzz

http://www.businessinsider.com/warning-google-buzz-has-a-huge-privacy-flaw-2010-2

http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/12/google-buzz-privacy/

Feel free to email Wendy directly: wapfel@bankstreet.edu. If you do email her, please make sure she knows who you are, and which class you are from.