Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Google to meet French regulator on privacy policy

Reprints

PARIS (Reuters)—Google Inc. 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 et des Libertés (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, Calif.-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."

%%BREAK%%

"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, Ms. 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 if more work is 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.