BRUSSELS -- A group of European regulators has written to Google
Inc calling on it to halt the introduction of its new privacy policy, saying
it needs to investigate whether the proposals sufficiently protect users'
data.
Google said in January it was
simplifying its privacy regulations, consolidating 60 guidelines into a
single policy that will function
across all its services, including YouTube, Gmail and Google+, its social
networking site.
Regulators are concerned that Google
may share personal data across all of its platforms without giving users the chance to give their prior consent.
The Article 29 Working Party, an
independent body that brings together data protection authorities from each
of the EU's 27 countries and the EU's executive European Commission, said it
needed to examine Google's plans more thoroughly
before the search group's policy comes into effect on March 1.
"Given the wide range of services
you offer, and the popularity of these services, changes in your privacy
policy may affect many citizens in most or all of the EU member states,"
the group wrote to Google Chief Executive Larry Page on Feb. 2. The European
commissioner in charge of data protection, Viviane Reding, welcomed the move,
saying it was a necessary to establish that EU data rules were being firmly
applied.
"The Commission therefore calls
on Europe's data protection authorities to ensure that EU law is fully complied with in Google's new
privacy policy," she said in a statement.
Lawmakers and civil liberties groups in the
United States are also concerned by Google's plans to include photos and
posts from users' Google+ accounts in search results.
The new policy seeks to explain what
information Google collects from the millions of people who use its services
every day, why it is collected, how it is used and what choices are then
offered to limit how it is accessed and updated. Google is not obliged to wait for the conclusion
of the Article 29 Working Group's investigation before adopting its new
policy, but has in the past sought
to work with European authorities when they have raised concerns.
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VOCABULARY
1. Regulations (n) - a
statement spelling out the proper procedure or conduct for an activity
2. Platform (n) - a
place or opportunity for communicating ideas and information (channel, medium)
3. Function (v) - operate, run; administer, carry
on
4. Prior (adj.) - early,
first, before
5. Thoroughly (adv.) - with
attention to all aspects or details (completely, comprehensively, detailed,
totally)
6. Ensure (v) - to make
sure, certain, or safe
7. Lawmakers(n) - a
member of an organized body of persons having the authority to make laws
8. Obliged (v) - to cause
(a person) to give in to pressure (compel, force to do)
9. Sought (v) - to make
an effort to do (strive)
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What Google services
do you use? How often do you use them?
2. What information is
usually asked from the users?
3. Do you provide true
information when using internet services?
4. What can you say
about privacy policy?
5. Talk about other
issues about privacy policy.
