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EU probes Google grip on data
Maija Palmer
FT.com
Friday May 25, 2007
European data protection officials have raised concerns that Google
could be contravening European privacy laws by keeping data on internet
searches for too long.
The Article 29 working party, a group of national officials that
advises the European Union on privacy policy, sent a letter to Google
last week asking the company to justify its policy of keeping information
on individuals’ internet searches for up to two years.
The letter questioned whether Google had “fulfilled all the
necessary requirements” on data protection.
The data kept by Google includes the search term typed in, the
address of the internet server and occasionally more personal information
contained on “cookies”, or identifier programs, on an
individual’s computer.
This is separate to the personal information Google has begun collecting
over the past two years from people who give the group explicit
permission to do so.
Standard search information is kept about everyone who uses the
search engine, and privacy groups are concerned that even this ostensibly
non-personal data can be used to identify individuals and create
profiles of their political opinions, religious beliefs and sexual
preferences.
Google previously kept such data indefinitely, but in March announced
it would limit the storage time to two years, in an attempt to assuage
concerns.
But many members of the working party feel that even two years
is too long to keep data, and the group has asked Google to justify
its policy.
Separately, the Norwegian Data Inspectorate began an investigation
into Google and other search engine companies last October and has
stated that the 18- to 24-month period proposed by Google was too
long.
“After the service is finished we cannot see reasons why
the company should keep the addresses for a longer period. Of course
there can be reasons like security, but 18 to 24 months is to our
point of view far to long,” the inspectorate said.
Peter Fleischer, European privacy counsel for Google, said the
company needed to keep search information for some time for security
purposes – to help guard against hacking and people trying
to misuse Google’s advertising system.
Mr Fleischer is set to respond to the working party before their
next meeting in June.
He said other companies such as Yahoo and Microsoft had not yet
declared a limit to the information they keep.
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