Google’s plans to integrate consumer information on most of Google’s products...
Google’s plans to integrate consumer information on most of Google’s products is troubling, 37 attorneys general said in a letter to Google CEO Larry Page. Attorneys general from Maryland, Washington, California and other states requested a meeting with Google. Consumers…
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may want the information in their Web history “to be kept separate from the information they exchange via Gmail.” It “rings hollow” to call consumers’ ability to exit the Google products ecosystem a “choice” in an Internet economy “where the clear majority of all Internet users use … at least one Google product on a regular basis.” The invasion of privacy will be costly for many users to escape, the letter said. Google “has not only failed to provide an ‘opt-in’ option, but has failed to provide meaningful ‘opt-out’ options as well.” Consumer Watchdog supported the request by the state lawyers: Google “has spun the new policies as ‘improving user experience,'” Consumer Watchdog said. The attorneys general asked Google to respond no later than Feb. 29. The updated privacy policy will make Google’s privacy practices easier to understand, a Google spokesman said. “We've undertaken the most extensive notification effort in Google’s history” and Google continues to offer choice and control over how people use Google services. “Of course we are happy to discuss this approach with regulators globally."