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Google's new privacy policy begins. Does it break the law?
by Don Reisinger | March 1, 2012 7:28 AM PST
Summary: The European Union's Justice Commission says that several agencies across the Eurozone have serious worries about the Internet titan's "simple" privacy experience.
Today is the big day. But not everyone is too excited about it.
Google has officially implemented its new, combined privacy policy. On the company's Privacy Policy page, Google describes everything from how it collects information across its many sites to what it does with all that information.
After announcing plans in January to implement a combined privacy policy that covers all of its many services, the search company said that it would make for a "beautifully simple, intuitive user experience."
"The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services," Alma Whitten, director of privacy, product and engineering, wrote in a blog post at the time. "In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
But not everyone is too pleased the search giant went forward with the change. In a letter dated February 27 and obtained today by CNET, France's data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL), wrote to Google CEO Larry Page saying that the privacy policy might not be lawful under European Union rules.
"The CNIL and the EU data protection authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of personal data across services," the letter reads. "They have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing, and about its compliance with European Data.
More to read: http://news.cnet.com...-break-the-law/
by Don Reisinger | March 1, 2012 7:28 AM PST
Summary: The European Union's Justice Commission says that several agencies across the Eurozone have serious worries about the Internet titan's "simple" privacy experience.
Today is the big day. But not everyone is too excited about it.
Google has officially implemented its new, combined privacy policy. On the company's Privacy Policy page, Google describes everything from how it collects information across its many sites to what it does with all that information.
After announcing plans in January to implement a combined privacy policy that covers all of its many services, the search company said that it would make for a "beautifully simple, intuitive user experience."
"The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services," Alma Whitten, director of privacy, product and engineering, wrote in a blog post at the time. "In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
But not everyone is too pleased the search giant went forward with the change. In a letter dated February 27 and obtained today by CNET, France's data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL), wrote to Google CEO Larry Page saying that the privacy policy might not be lawful under European Union rules.
"The CNIL and the EU data protection authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of personal data across services," the letter reads. "They have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing, and about its compliance with European Data.
More to read: http://news.cnet.com...-break-the-law/
