EU officials warn Google on search data retention
By Ruben Francia
Despite recent changes in Google’s data-retention policy, data protection officials from 27 European countries have written to Google warning that the search giant may be in breach European privacy rules because of the way it stores data on individual searches.
Google previously kept consumers’ data as long as it was needed. The company now plans to keep server log data, but will enhance the ability to make it anonymous after 18 to 24 months.
EU spokesman Pietro Petrucci said the group, which advises the European Commission and EU governments on data protection issues, wants Google to address concerns about the company’s practice of storing and retaining user information for up to two years, and whether the company had “fulfilled all the necessary requirements” on data protection.
The EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini who considers the issues covered by the letter to be “appropriate and legitimate” is backing the query.
Google, which confirmed it received a letter from the chairman of the advisory group, said it would respond, as requested, before the group holds its next meeting in mid-June. However, the company’s global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer defended its privacy protection measures.
“The company was doing a lot to protect personal data gathered from users on its search engine,” he said. “Google recently announced a new policy to anonymize our server logs after 18-24 months. We’re the only leading search company to have taken this step publicly. We believe it’s an important part of our commitment to respect user privacy while balancing a number of important factors, such as maintaining security and preventing fraud and abuse.”
He added: “We are committed to engaging in a constructive dialogue with privacy stakeholders, including the Article 29 working party, on how to improve privacy practices for the benefit of Google users and for everyone on the internet.”
Privacy experts said the letter was the first salvo in what could become a determined effort by the European Commission to force Google to change how it does business in the EU, whose 400 million consumers outnumber the U.S. population.
“The pressure to regulate this type of business activity, which is still in its infancy, is building and what you are seeing is the beginning of a serious effort in Europe,” Christoph Gusy, a privacy law expert at Bielefeld University in Germany, said.
The group plans to meet on June 19 in Brussels to consider Google’s response.
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