European watchdogs want Google to amend privacy policy

UK’s data watchdog said that Google could face “enforcement action” unless it does something to improve its privacy policies.

07:27 06 July 2013

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has told Google to rewrite its privacy policy in Europe or face legal sanctions. The warning came 15 months after Google unilaterally altered them to unify data collection. ICO believes that there are serious concerns related to the giant search engine’s compliance with the UK Data Protection Act and that Google does not make it clear enough as to how user data will be used across all its products.

An ICO spokesman said: "We have today written to Google to confirm our findings relating to the update of the company's privacy policy."

"In our letter we confirm that its updated privacy policy raises serious questions about its compliance with the UK Data Protection Act."

According to ICO, they gave Google until September 20 to amend the policy. If Google fail to comply, the giant search engine will face the possibility of formal enforcement action.

Google has responded and in a statement, it said: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the authorities involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward."