Kenny Francois
CSC101-02
10/18/2012
Information Technology
Kenny Francois
CSC101-02
18 October 2012
Contents
Europe Presses Google to Change Privacy Policy.................................................................................... 1
Google introduced the privacy policy .......................................................................................................... 1
Privacy Regulators ........................................................................................................................................ 2
New Privacy Policy ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Letter to Mr. Page ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Europe Presses Google to Change Privacy
Policy
PARIS — What does Google know about its users and how does it know it? European privacy
regulators on Tuesday warned the company to clarify those issues — or risk fines or other
penalties by early next year.
In a letter to Larry Page, the chief executive of Google, 27 European data-protection agencies
asked the company to modify its global privacy policy that governs dozens of Google online
services — including the flagship search engine, Android mobile phone apps and YouTube
videos — so that users have a clearer understanding of what personal data is being collected and
can better control how that information is shared with advertisers.
Along with other Internet companies like Facebook and Microsoft, Google collects personal
data, like the sex and age of users and their Web browsing histories, in order to tailor their
services to individual users and also to sell ads.
Google introduced the privacy policy
When Google introduced the privacy policy last winter, it described it as a way to streamline its
use of personal data across a range of services that were each previously covered by separate
privacy guidelines. And in keeping with European privacy law, Google said it was collecting the
data only if users “opted in.” But opting in essentially became a requirement of using each of the
services, by clicking the “I Agree” button before using the service for the first time, after the new
policy went into effect.
1
Kenny Francois
CSC101-02
18 October 2012
Analysts say the impact on Google’s business of accepting the regulators’ recommendations
depends on whether customers readily accept having to opt into a more detailed privacy policy.
If large numbers of users opt out, Google’s advertising revenue would suffer.
European privacy regulators had expressed concern last winter about the new procedures and had
asked Google to delay implementing them. After the company declined, the European
Commission asked France’s privacy agency to take the lead on a legal analysis, which resulted in
the warning letter Tuesday to Mr. Page.
Privacy Regulators
The privacy regulators said Google provided users with incomplete disclosure about its
processing and storage of the data, as well as insufficient control over how information from
different Google services is blended to build detailed personal profiles. Google also makes it too
cumbersome for users to block the collection of these data, the regulators said.
“The new privacy policy allows an unprecedented combination of data across different Google
services,” Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, chairwoman of the French data-protection authority, said at
a news conference in Paris. “We are not opposed to this, in principle, but the data could be
employed in ways that the user is not aware of.”
Ms. Falque-Pierrotin, whose agency, called CNIL1, conducted an investigation of the policy
change on behalf of the other European Union data-protection authorities, said she would give
Google “three to four months” to make changes. If the company refuses, she and other officials
said, the data-protection authorities might take legal action or impose fines.
Google said it was reviewing the letter and an accompanying report from the data-protection
authorities, but added that it was confident that the new policy respected European Union law.
New Privacy Policy
“Our new privacy policy demonstrates our longstanding commitment to protecting our users’
information and creating great products,” Peter Fleischer, the Google global privacy counsel,
said in a statement.
Letter to Mr. Page
The letter to Mr. Page is only the latest addition to a growing list of regulatory headaches for
Google. Antitrust officials at the European Commission are investigating whether Google has
used its search engine to favor its own services and through preferential rankings to put
1
is an independent French administrative authority whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to
the collection, storage, and use of personal data
2
Kenny Francois
CSC101-02
18 October 2012
competitors at a disadvantage. A similar inquiry is under way at the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission2.
2
Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly.
Stewart, Gail B. Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The Google Guys. KidHaven, October 5, 2007.
Stross, Randall E. Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan To Organize Everything We Know . Free
Press, 2008.
(CNIL Wikipedia)
(New York Times )
3
Kenny Francois
CSC101-02
18 October 2012
4