It seems that Google is going through a really bad patch, as first the company was allegedly named in the PRISM scandal and now according to latest report from Bloomberg the search engine giant is having some problems with the French government. The report has claimed that French government has once again raised objections over privacy tactics from Google and warned the company to change its policy related to users’ data in three months otherwise it will be heavily fined. In addition to this, it is said that five other countries have also decided to follow similar actions by the end of next month (July). According to the report, the country says that the Mountain View-based company is defying the privacy laws as it “prevents individuals from knowing how their personal data may be used and from controlling such use.”
However, Google on the other hand, deny these allegations by saying that its “privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services” and it has “engaged fully with the data protection authorities involved throughout this process and will continue to do so going forward.”
“The French data protection watchdog ordered the company to spell out for users why it collects information “to understand practically the processing of their personal data,” better inform users of its privacy policy, and “define retention periods of personal data processed that do not exceed the period necessary for the purposes for which they are collected.” CNIL is also asking the owner of the Gmail messaging system to request users’ permission for “the potentially unlimited combination” of their data, ask users’ approval to collect their data with tools such as the “Doubleclick” and “Analytics” cookies, “+1” buttons or any other Google service on third-party websites, and “inform users and then obtain their consent in particular before storing cookies in their terminal.””
If Google fails to change its policy related to users’ data then, the company can face a fine up to 150,000 Euros, or $198,000 by max and in case of repeating the offense it will pay a fine of 300,000 Euros. Moreover, it is expected that besides France, the U.K., Germany and Spain may also take action against Google in the near future. It is noteworthy to mention here that this report has surfaced just a day after data-protection authorities of five different countries jointly sent a letter to Google in which they had showed concerns over the Glass project of the company and asked 8 specific questions related to the head mounted device.
Source: 9to5Google
Photo: GlobalPost
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