EU to act against Google over privacy: French agency
18 FEBRUARY 2013
AFP - European data protection agencies intend to take
action against the US Internet giant Google after it failed to follow their
orders to comply with EU privacy laws, the French data protection authority
said on Monday.
In October the data protection agencies warned Google
that its new privacy policy did not comply with EU laws and gave it four months
to comply or face legal action.
"At the end of a four-month delay accorded to Google
to conform and promise to implement recommendations, no response has been
forthcoming by the company" said France's CNIL data protection agency.
CNIL said that European data protection agencies planned
to set up a working group to "coordinate their coercive actions which
should be implemented before the summer."
European data agencies are to meet next week to approve
the action plan, said CNIL, which said it is leading the effort.
Google rolled out the new privacy policy in March 2012,
allowing it to track users across various services to develop targeted
advertising, despite sharp criticism from US and European consumer advocacy
groups.
It contends the move simplifies and unifies its policies
across its various services such as Gmail, YouTube, Android mobile systems,
social networks and Internet search.
But critics argue that the policy, which offers no
ability to opt out aside from refraining from signing into Google services,
gives the operator of the world's largest search engine unprecedented ability
to monitor its users.
Google reiterated on Monday that its privacy policy
respects European law.
Comments
Post a Comment