EU probes Google new privacy policy
The European Union’s data protection authorities have asked Google to delay the rollout of its new privacy policy until they have verified that it doesn’t break the bloc’s data protection laws.
Google publicised its new privacy rules which regulate how the Web giant uses the enormous amounts of personal data its collects through its search engine, email and other services with much fanfare last week. Since then, it has launched a huge publicity campaign informing its users around the globe of the new policy, which is set to come into force on March 1.
But that launch date may now be under threat. In a letter to Google Chief Executive Larry Page, the chairman of the group of 27 national privacy regulators in the EU, Jacob Kohnstamm said that the French data protection agency has started a probe of the new rules and how they will affect Google users in the EU.
“We call for a pause (in the rollout of the new rules) in the interests of ensuring that there can be no misunderstanding about Google’s commitments to information rights of their users and EU citizens, until we have completed our analysis,” Kohnstamm wrote in the letter published on Saturday.
