Government officials from 10 countries sent Google an open letter (PDF) this week asking the company to adhere to a list of privacy principles in the wake of the company’s botched Buzz launch. The leaders, which include officials from Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and the UK, make it clear that they understand Google swiftly responded to user complaints immediately after Buzz was opened to the public. Still, they’re unsatisfied with Google’s “launch now, fix later” philosophy and want to ensure the company takes privacy into serious consideration before launching future products.

In the letter sent directly to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the officials opened with criticism of how Google handled its Buzz launch in February of this year. The privacy problems “were serious and ought to have been readily apparent to you,” reads the letter, and users were able to recognize the privacy implications immediately. Indeed, users were put off by the fact that Google automatically associated their previously private Gmail contacts as friends, automatically sharing Google Reader items, and automatically sharing photos uploaded to users’ public Picasa Web Albums.

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