facebook rss twitter

'In breach of EU law' - Google's new privacy changes

by Alistair Lowe on 2 March 2012, 10:06

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabdhn

Add to My Vault: x

As many may be aware, Google has recently changed its privacy policy, unifying what was previously over 60 different privacy policies from various Google services, into a single policy. Whilst there's no doubt that this makes it much easier for an end-user to by aware of their rights, the EU justice commissioner has questioned the legality of some of the changes the firm made when executing its privacy policy amalgamation.

The issue at hand is that the EU authorities believe that 'transparency rules have not been applied', where private data collected by one Google service can be freely used by another. Particular concern has been raised by users, where by default, owning and using a Google account means that browsing data will be archived and shared for improved search results and targeted advertisements, whilst forgoing the usual policy terms relating to Google's anonymising and retention of historical data.

"We are confident that our new simple, clear and transparent privacy policy respects all European data protection laws and principals," stated Google, despite the wishes of both the French and EU data authorities, to delay rolling out of the new policy whilst it is further investigated, "The CNIL and EU data authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of personal data across services," the regulator announced, "They have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing, and its compliance with European data protection legislation."

It is now possible to disable web history, YouTube history and even see what sites have access to your account's information from the dashboard, however it's not clear exactly how long data already recorded will remain within the Google system after it has been utilised by other services, with Google holding onto certain details for auditing purposes.

HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
Posted by crossy - Fri 02 Mar 2012 10:26
Thanks for posting that link to Google Dashboard Hexus :hexlub: I hadn't realised that this level of control existed. Heck, I didn't know it was possible to setup alerts for when Google spots your details on it's trawled pages.

I really don't know what to think about this - I like the idea that Google's unifying the various T&C's down to one. On the other hand I'm not so keen that it seems to be that if you give any information to a Google property/service then they've got carte blanche to ship it here, there and everywhere without you having any say. I'd be particularly unhappy if they start shipping that data out of the EU - especially to un-named places in APJ.

On the other hand, I don't agree with the “talking heads” on the news who've been saying that Google's trying to slip this change past the public. All the Google sites I've been on have had a prominent banner that says they're changing the privacy conditions.

End of the day, I guess it's pretty simple to get around - just don't use any of Google's services. E.g. don't use Google Search; Chrome browser; Android phones; etc. Otherwise expect to be tracked and your relevant* details sold to advertisers - sort of a “Big Brother Lite”. But who didn't already know that Google did this?

(* but who decides what's “relevant” - I'd like a say in that!)
Posted by Saracen - Fri 02 Mar 2012 14:48
crossy
….

End of the day, I guess it's pretty simple to get around - just don't use any of Google's services. E.g. don't use Google Search; Chrome browser; Android phones; etc. Otherwise expect to be tracked and your relevant* details sold to advertisers - sort of a “Big Brother Lite”. But who didn't already know that Google did this?
….
Or, don't use them logged in, at least. And, of course, some you many not be able to use if you aren't.

I've said for some time that I don't trust companies like Google. Or Tesco, or …. well, a long list. Personally, I don't want advertising from these companies, or almost anyone else, at all, but I certainly don't want personalised advertising, and I find the notion of them scanning my email and advertising based on them keeping keyword records utterly obnoxious and objectionable.

Of course, some people may not care, and some may actively want it. Fair enough. Give permission, and give it explicitly.

But personally, I don't believe companies with their opt out, and I don't trust them to not be keeping and analysing data even when they say they aren't. The only strategy that makes any sense to me is to simply avoid giving any company any data that is not absolutely essential, and even then, I do it grudgingly, and very carefully. Nobody can, unfortunately, opt out entirely, but I do everything I can to minimise it, and I will not sign up for any Google service that requires a log-in. I similarly will not now, nor ever, use services like Twitter or Facebook, because I simply do not trust them.

I can't keep the entire genie in the bottle, but I can do my utmost to keep most of him in it, and I do. Store cards are, for me, a no-no, for instance, and for the same reason.
Posted by Zeven - Wed 07 Mar 2012 02:43
Google tracks you. We don't. and Escape your search engine Filter Bubble! seem to be relevant here. I certainly deem Google to be the lesser evil when compared with Microsoft, Apple, and the others, but still, I am just a tiny bit worried.
Posted by royi - Wed 07 Mar 2012 17:08
I know I'm taking the unpopular side here, but we are not paying for their service. They do need to make a penny by maximizing their ad relevancy. We should keep an eye open, but i would want to see relevant ads on my google search results rather then makeup stuff for example.

What i don't like,is that their bot is reading my mails. I once visited a co-worker, which showed me something on Google (on his computer) just to see that he has medically nature ads which are probably corresponding to personal stuff from his gmail.

that cant be good…
Posted by crossy - Thu 08 Mar 2012 08:50
royi
I know I'm taking the unpopular side here, but we are not paying for their service. They do need to make a penny by maximizing their ad relevancy. We should keep an eye open, but i would want to see relevant ads on my google search results rather then makeup stuff for example.
I agree with what you're saying here - especially the bit about relevancy. I don't mind the ads that much, in fact in some cases the choices the bot throw up can be amusing.

For example, I was looking for an office chair the other day, and for some reason the Google ads were for cut price migraine treatments and chiropractic services. Or when I was doing a site search on hp.com and the ads served were all for IBM. :)

As I said before, I've no problems with changes Google make, just as long as they're clearly notified and there's some way to see what data they've collected. If they also offer some opt-outs, (e.g. “do not share this data outside of Google products and services”) then I'm content. As you rightly say, this is the “payment” for all those “free” services that Google offer.

SEE NEWER »