- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
If Google didn’t have enough troubles in Europe, it does now, after a German regulator has ordered the company to start seeking user permission before using their data from all Google products.
The commission based in Hamburg watches over data protection and freedom of information. On Tuesday, it discussed the possibility of fining Google if it doesn’t agree to take some major steps towards changing the way it processes user data in the country.
“Google is ordered to take the necessary technical and organizational measures to guarantee that their users can decide on their own if and to what extent their data is used for profiling,” the regulator’s statement reads.
The issue that the German authorities have with Google is connected with the privacy policy that Google implemented a while back by merging together about 60 different ones for each of its services. Instead, the company presented users with a “take it or leave it” policy that they had no way to refuse unless they wanted to stop using its services.
By merging the privacy policies together, however, Google gave itself the power to simply crisscross user information across its services, be it Google Search, Maps, YouTube or others and therefore find out more details about each individual, creating a more accurate profile for each one.
Since the consolidated privacy policy was introduced by Google back in 2012 despite the concerns of Europe’s privacy watchdogs, the company has gone through quite a few issues with various nations. For instance, Spain has fined Google with €900,000 ($1.23 million), while France handed out a €150,000 ($189,000) fine for similar issues.
Germany lays down the rules
Hamburg, as other nations, is concerned that Google’s data collection allows the creation of nearly comprehensive personal records, varying from travel profiles, financial status, relationship status, habits and so on.
“Google has not been willing to abide by the legally binding rules and refused to substantially improve the user's control. So we had to compel Google to do so by an administrative order. Our requirements aim at a fair balance between the concerns of the company and its users. The issue is up to Google now. The company must treat the data of its millions of users in a way that respects their privacy adequately while they use the various services of the company,” said Johannes Caspar, commissioner for data protection.
Google isn’t only facing a lot of issues due to its privacy policy, but also due to the way it handles competition over its search engine, for which it is being investigated by the European Union Commission.
The commission based in Hamburg watches over data protection and freedom of information. On Tuesday, it discussed the possibility of fining Google if it doesn’t agree to take some major steps towards changing the way it processes user data in the country.
“Google is ordered to take the necessary technical and organizational measures to guarantee that their users can decide on their own if and to what extent their data is used for profiling,” the regulator’s statement reads.
The issue that the German authorities have with Google is connected with the privacy policy that Google implemented a while back by merging together about 60 different ones for each of its services. Instead, the company presented users with a “take it or leave it” policy that they had no way to refuse unless they wanted to stop using its services.
By merging the privacy policies together, however, Google gave itself the power to simply crisscross user information across its services, be it Google Search, Maps, YouTube or others and therefore find out more details about each individual, creating a more accurate profile for each one.
Since the consolidated privacy policy was introduced by Google back in 2012 despite the concerns of Europe’s privacy watchdogs, the company has gone through quite a few issues with various nations. For instance, Spain has fined Google with €900,000 ($1.23 million), while France handed out a €150,000 ($189,000) fine for similar issues.
Germany lays down the rules
Hamburg, as other nations, is concerned that Google’s data collection allows the creation of nearly comprehensive personal records, varying from travel profiles, financial status, relationship status, habits and so on.
“Google has not been willing to abide by the legally binding rules and refused to substantially improve the user's control. So we had to compel Google to do so by an administrative order. Our requirements aim at a fair balance between the concerns of the company and its users. The issue is up to Google now. The company must treat the data of its millions of users in a way that respects their privacy adequately while they use the various services of the company,” said Johannes Caspar, commissioner for data protection.
Google isn’t only facing a lot of issues due to its privacy policy, but also due to the way it handles competition over its search engine, for which it is being investigated by the European Union Commission.
