Jan 26 (Reuters) - 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 trove of data, which the company could use for its
targeted advertising dollars.
The lawmakers said the announcement raises questions about
whether consumers will have enough power to opt-out of data
sharing systems. They also asked what security steps are being
taken to ensure the safety of customer data.
"While Google suggests that the purpose of this shift in
policy is to make the consumer experience simpler, we want to
make sure it does not make protecting consumer privacy more
complicated," the lawmakers said in a letter to Google Chief
Executive Larry Page.
The letter was dated Thursday.
Republican signatories were representatives Cliff Stearns,
Joe Barton and Marsha Blackburn.
Democratic signatories were representatives Markey, Henry
Waxman, Dianne DeGette, G.K. Butterfield, and Jackie Speier, who
has introduced privacy legislation.
All of the lawmakers except for Speier are members of the
Energy and Commerce Committee.
Google, in a statement from policy manager Betsy Masiello,
insisted on Thursday that users had "choice and control."
"We're not collecting more data about you. Our new policy
simply makes it clear that we use data to refine and improve
your experience on Google," she wrote. "We're making things
simpler and we're trying to be upfront about it. Period."
Online privacy has come under scrutiny from Washington as a
handful of web giants have been accused of compromising user
privacy to attract advertisers.
Late last year, Facebook settled with the FTC agreeing to be
regulated for a period of 20 years whenever it decides to change
its privacy policy.
In 2010, the FTC settled charges with Twitter, after the
agency alleged that the social networking service had failed to
safeguard users' personal information.
U.S. regulators are reportedly looking into whether Google
manipulates its search results to favor its own products and
have expanded the probe to include Google+.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Lisa Richwine)
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