Google may have some explaining to do to EU regulators who are looking into whether the search giant’s privacy policy complies with the law.
Search engine leader Google has been told that it may be breaking European Union privacy laws by keeping people’s search information on its servers for up to two years, advisers to EU regulators informed the company.
Google typically stores information on user queries — including search terms, server addresses and information on cookies — for up to two years.
EU spokesman Pietro Petrucci said Friday that an independent committee is investigating to determine whether Google complies with the privacy guidelines set by the EU.
The 28-member panel, which also 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.
Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel, said the firm was committed to dialogue with the group. He said the company was doing a lot to protect personal data gathered from users on its search engine.
“We believe it is 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,” Fleischer said.
This group has addressed a letter to Google raising a number of questions, Petrucci said. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini backs the investigation. “He considers those questions raised by the letter to be appropriate and legitimate,” Petrucci said.
Google said it would answer the EU’s privacy concerns before the panel’s next meeting at the end of June.
Like many other Web sites, Google deploys threads of computer coding known as "cookies" to gather insights about its users. Web browsers can be set to reject cookies, but that move also can limit access to some Internet services.
Google relies on its cookies to compile logs of the search terms entered into specific Web browsers as well as other potentially sensitive online information. The company says the data help its search engine better understand its users so it can deliver more relevant results and advertisements.
Saving Information
Earlier this year Google said it would make all personal data it receives from users’ web search anonymous after 18 to 24 months. While standard information is retained on everyone who uses the search engine, privacy groups are now concerned the data is being used to create profiles.
Google collects and stores data from each query in to "cookies." It holds information such as the search term itself, the unique address of the PC being used, known as the IP address, and details of how a user makes searches, such as the browser used and previous queries to Google.
That information can contain private data about a user, and could be used to build a detailed picture of the user’s habits or lifestyle.
As Google becomes more knowledgeable about the people relying on its search engine and other free services, management hopes to develop more tools that recommend activities and other pursuits that might appeal to individual users.
Those ambitions disturb many privacy advocates, who fear possible abuses despite Google’s vows to respect and protect the user information. Google has said it was using this information to help improve its different services and to monitor how its search engine was functioning.
One of the biggest fears is that a government authority conducting an investigation or surveillance program might try to pry into Google’s data vault. “The data retention question is really a proxy for a larger debate about privacy and personal information,” said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
The issue came up last year when Google successfully fought a U.S. Justice Department subpoena seeking a long list of search requests made by its users. The owners of three other major search engines — Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.’s MSN and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL — surrendered some of the information sought by the government.
“Google is often a target because of the amount of information the company has amassed,” said Sterling. “People are starting to worry their footprint is too big and they have become too powerful.”
The EU move comes on the heels from a consumer group’s request to the Federal Trade Commission for an investigation of Google’s privacy protection policies, spurred by its $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising service DoubleClick Inc., which also uses cookies to track Web surfers.