EPIC v. FTC Federal Trade Commission FTC Google In re Google Buzz
Dutch Privacy Officials Find Google Violates National Privacy Law
The Dutch Data Protection Authority has found that Google's 2012 privacy policy change violates Dutch data protection law. Google's policy change, which EPIC also opposed, consolidated user data across more than 60 separate services and gave Google the ability to track and profile users in extraordinary detail. The Dutch DPA has ordered Google to: (1) obtain "unambiguous consent of users for the combining of personal data" from different Google services; (2) describe in detail the personal data are used by each Google service; and (3) clearly explain to consumers that YouTube is a Google service. Google must comply with the Dutch officials' order by February 2015 or face $19 million in fines. In issuing the decision, Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Dutch DPA, stated, "Google catches us in an invisible web of our personal data without telling us and without asking us for our consent. This has been ongoing since 2012 and we hope our patience will no longer be tested." In 2012, EPIC sued the Federal Trade Commission to block Google's 2012 policy change, which violated a 2011 FTC Consent Order. That Consent Order followed an extensive EPIC FTC Complaint and findings by the FTC concerning Google's business practices. For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. FTC (Enforcement of the Google Consent Order), EPIC: In re Google Buzz, and EPIC: Federal Trade Commission.
December 16, 2014| Share:
