UK government issues ultimatum on Google's troublesome privacy policy

A year and a half after Google introduced its new, "simpler" privacy policy, UK regulators have come to a verdict: Mountain View must now change that policy by September 20th or face the possibility of "formal enforcement action." In a statement, the Information Commissioner's Office said:

"We believe that the updated policy does not provide sufficient information to enable UK users of Google's services to understand how their data will be used across all the company's products."

German and Italian governments have reached much the same conclusion, while France and Spain also wrote strongly-worded letters to Google last month. For its part, Google has the following response:

"Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the authorities involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward."

As The Guardian points out however, Google's statement doesn't really explain how its privacy policy can "respect" EU law and yet be considered objectionable by five major EU governments.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: The Inquirer (1), The Guardian