Reuters: Technology News: Google to meet French regulator on privacy policy

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Google to meet French regulator on privacy policy May 16th 2012, 14:59 Google Inc's logo is seen at an office in Seoul in this May 3, 2011 file photograph. Credit: Reuters/Truth Leem/Files By Leila Abboud PARIS | Wed May 16, 2012 10:59am EDT PARIS (Reuters) - Google will meet with France's data protection watchdog next week to answer questions about its new user privacy policy as part of a Europe-wide investigation being led by the French regulator. France's "Commission Nationale de l'Informatique" (CNIL) is examining Google's new approach to privacy on behalf of data protection regulators of the 27 European Union member states to determine if it conforms with European law. Google has already provided a 94-page response to a CNIL questionnaire on the new policy, which took effect in March. "We are not totally satisfied with their responses so we have set up this meeting to discuss the issues with Google," CNIL president Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin told Reuters in an interview. "We want to untangle the precise way that specific personal data is being used for individual services, and examine what the benefit for the consumer really is," she explained. Under its new system, Google consolidated 60 privacy policies into one and began pooling data it collects on individual users across its services, including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+. The Mountain View, California-based search giant says this allows it to better tailor search results and improve services for consumers. Users are not allowed to opt out. The move was met with concern not only from Europe, but also from U.S. lawmakers and regulators as far afield as Japan, Canada and Argentina. Anthony House, a Google spokesman, said the company welcomed the meeting with the CNIL and was confident its privacy notices "respected the requirements of European data protection law." "The meeting will give us chance to put things into context and explain the broader actions we are taking to protect our users' privacy," he said. After meeting with Google On May 23, the CNIL will provide an update to the broader group of 27 European data protection regulators from Europe's member states at a meeting set for early June. Asked how long Europe's review would take, Falque-Pierrotin said it depended in large part on how the meeting with Google went. If the CNIL can reach a final analysis quickly, then it will present a final opinion to the broader group in June or a preliminary view to if more work was needed. "I don't have a preconceived notion of whether Google's privacy policy conforms with European law; we are examining that now," she said. (Reporting by Leila Abboud, Gwenaelle Barzic, and Claire Davenport; editing by Geert De Clercq) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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