Brussels, 16/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Confidentiality rules implemented on 1 March last by Google do not comply with European legislation on personal data protection and must be amended. This announcement was made on 16 October by the French regulator, CNIL, on behalf of all the other European regulators belonging to the framework “Article 29” group. In a joint letter, these European authorities call on the US giant to, “provide clearer and more comprehensive information on data collected” and what it is used for. Google is also called on to comply more swiftly with the recommendations made by the European regulators. This analysis was welcomed by Commissioner Viviane Reding, who had already urged the US giant at the beginning of the year to suspend its new policy and to first of all ensure that its contents entirely comply with European law.
According to CNIL's recommendation, current policy does not enable users to know what kind of data is used at all or to what end it is used. The regulator is also highly critical of the fact that Google is refusing to set a period for retaining internet user data and does not allow inspection by users of the combination of data used by many different Google services. The US search engine still has a few months to improve its provisions, failing which, the CNIL will begin litigation. The latter made this announcement in Paris during the presentation of its conclusions, according to a report by the AFP.
In a written declaration, Reding explained that companies providing services to consumers in the EU must imperatively respect its data protection rules. She also said that it was essential that citizens knew exactly how their data was processed. It is in this connection that the Commissioner from Luxembourg decided last January to reform the 1995 directive currently in force, particularly with regard to police and legal affairs, which has received a certain amount of criticism.
On Tuesday, the US giant declared, however, that it was confident that its confidentiality rules respected European law. In a press release, quoted by AFP, Peter Fleischer, responsible for private life issues at a global level explained that Google's new confidentiality policy demonstrates the company's consistent commitment to protecting the information of its users and to create quality products. He added that the company was confident that their confidentiality policies respected European law. (SP/trans.fl)