European regulators (Article 29 working party) have written a letter to Google CEO Larry Page asking Google to halt the introduction of its new ‘one-size-fits-all’ privacy policy.
The privacy policy of Google was due to come into effect on March 1, and would allow Google to share what it knows about users between its services such as Google Search, Gmail and YouTube.
The European Union (EU) working party asked for Google to stop the new privacy policy while the working group investigate whether personal data of users is protected.
‘Given the wide range of services you offer, and the popularity of these services, changes in your privacy policy may affect many citizens in most EU member states,’ the group wrote to Google Chief Executive Larry Page.
‘We wish to check the possible consequences for the protection of the personal data of citizens,’ it said.
Google said the raising of concerns came as a surprise.‘We briefed most of the members of the working party in the weeks leading up to our announcement,’ said Al Verney, Google’s spokesman in Brussels.
‘None of them expressed substantial concerns at the time, but of course we’re happy to speak with any data protection authority that has questions.’
