Google's privacy changes opposed

GOOGLE’S NEW privacy policy comes into force today, but it could face opposition from privacy watchdogs who say the changes breach European regulations.

The tech giant said in January it was simplifying its privacy policy, consolidating 60 guidelines into a single one that will apply to all services, including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+.

The US internet company also said it would pool data it collects on individual users across its services, allowing it to better tailor search results and improve service. France’s data protection watchdog yesterday cast doubt on the legality and fairness of the new privacy policy, which it said breached European laws.

European data protection commissioners have asked the French data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), to lead an investigation into the new policy, and will be communicating with Google on behalf of the Article 29 Working Party to clarify what it entails.

“In advance of Google’s response to that communication and the necessary analysis it is too early to offer a view as to whether the new policy breaches data protection law but certainly it is clear there are a large number of matters to be clarified,” a spokeswoman for Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner said.

The CNIL regulator told Google in a letter dated February 27th it would send it questions by mid-March.

Users cannot opt out of the new policy if they want to continue using Google’s services.

Google is already being investigated by the EU’s competition authority and the US Federal Trade Commission over how it ranks search results and whether it favours its own products.

In a blog post on Tuesday responding to CNIL’s letter, Google said it was happy to answer questions from Europe’s data protection authorities.

“As we’ve said several times over the past week, while our privacy policies will change on 1st March, our commitment to our privacy principles is as strong as ever,” wrote Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy lawyer.