EU Regulators ask Google to halt the new privacy policy

by Swati on February 4th, 2012

A group of European regulators have asked search giant Google to halt the introduction of its new privacy policy, stating that it needs more investigation on whether or not it protects the use data sufficiently.

Google announced last month that the company is launching a common privacy policy and terms of service combining the 60 guidelines that it currently holds for its different products. Regulators are concerned that Google may share the personal data of its users across all of its platforms without giving them the chance to give their prior consent.

“Given the wide range of services you offer, and the popularity of these services, changes in your privacy policy may affect many citizens in most or all of the EU member states,” t on February 2,” the Article 29 Working Party, an independent body that brings together data protection authorities from each of the EU’s 27 countries and the EU’s executive European Commission, wrote to Google Chief Executive Larry Page.

Google stated that the concerns raised by European regulators were a surprise.

“We briefed most of the members of the working party in the weeks leading up to our announcement. None of them expressed substantial concerns at the time, but of course we’re happy to speak with any data protection authority that has questions,” said Al Verney, Google’s spokesman in Brussels.

Google is required to explain what information it collects from the millions of people who use its services every day, why it is collected, how it is used and what choices are offered to the users to limit how it is accessed. The search giant is, however, not obliged to wait for the conclusion of the Article 29 Working Group’s investigation before adopting its new policy.

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