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Friday 27th of January 2012 12:07:06 PM
A leading lawmaker on privacy issues said on Thursday he would ask for a probe into whether recently announced changes in how Google handles consumer data violated an agreement it made with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Representative Edward Markey was also one of eight U.S. lawmakers who sent a letter to Google expressing concern that a planned consolidation of user information may make it more difficult for consumers to protect their privacy.
In a separate statement, Markey went further: "I plan to ask the Federal Trade Commission whether Google's planned changes to its privacy policy violate Google's recent settlement with the agency."
Following a messy rollout of Google's now defunct social network Buzz, Google and the FTC reached a settlement in March last year that requires consent if Google collects information under one privacy policy but then changes that policy.
Google, whose offerings include its flagship search product, Gmail, YouTube and Google+ products, announced on Tuesday that it was unifying 60 of its privacy policies. The company said it would "mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
However, after the new policy comes into effect, user information from most Google products will be treated as a single... read more
World News