Google tries to impose restrictions on Google

In an age of Big Data where thousands of companies across the internet are not only collecting, but often sharing users’ information, Germany’s privacy regulator is working to enforce some control over the flow of user data, specifically from Google. A recent legal ruling stated that Google must “seek Germans’ expressed permission before it uses their data to create online user profiles across its services.” 

Germany differs from the US in that it is illegal in Germany to ascertain specific information on individuals, such as financial information, relationship status and sexual orientation, all of which can currently be done easily by Google’s databases. If Google does not comply with the ruling, it risks penalties of up to $1.27 million. With the success of Google’s algorithms resting on their ability to capture as much user data as possible and use this data to customize their offerings, it will be interesting to see whether Google complies and if they do, what that will mean for their future success in Germany. 

Read the entire article regarding the regulations Germany is trying to impose on Google here as well as below:

A German privacy regulator has ordered Google to give its users greater control over how their online data is used, in the latest privacy case that challenges how the search giant operates in Europe.

The city of Hamburg’s data protection regulator, one of Germany’s leading data protection agencies, said in a legal ruling that Google must seek Germans’ expressed permission before it uses their data to create online user profiles across its services like email, online search and its Android-based mobile products.

The watchdog said that Google’s ability to aggregate such online data without people’s consent could allow the company to ascertain individuals’ financial information, relationship status and sexual orientation, which is illegal under German law.

The German regulator acknowledged that Google did not collect this delicate information to target advertising to people online. But it added that other information that the company aggregated without users’ consent could nevertheless allow the search giant to form a detailed picture of individual users.

Google may face financial penalties of up to 1 million euros, or about $1.27 million, if it does not comply with the regulator’s ruling, according to a spokesman for the Hamburg data protection commissioner.

In response, Google said that it had worked with the regulator to explain its privacy policies, adding that “we’re now studying their order to determine next steps.”

Google has a month to respond to the ruling, which was based on an investigation that began in April of last year.

“The issue is up to Google now,” Johannes Caspar, Hamburg’s data protection commissioner, said in a statement, adding that the company had made some unspecified changes to how it collects people’s online information. “The company must treat the data of its millions of users in a way that respects their privacy.”

The regulator’s comments signal the latest privacy challenge for Google, which has faced similar legal cases brought by other national regulators. In France, the national watchdog fined the company 150,000 euros, or about $190,000, this year for similarly tracking and storing people’s online information.

Google is also battling on a variety of other legal fronts in Europe. The company is facing renewed antitrust complaints brought by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. And the tech giant has been stung by a recent European court decision that gives Europeans — and potentially those farther afield — the right to request that links to online information about themselves be removed from Internet searches.

The latest complaint, which was sent to the company last week and made public late on Tuesday, relates to changes in Google’s privacy policies in 2012 that consolidated the company’s 60 privacy policies into one document, which also allowed the company to start collecting data on users across its online services.

As part of the changes, Google is now able to collect information including location-based data when someone uses one of its services, like Google Maps. The search engine also scans individuals’ Gmail accounts to filter out spam and to create tailored advertising.

The changes did not allow people to opt out of the data collection globally.

Mr. Caspar, the Hamburg data commissioner, who previously fined Google $190,000 for illegally collecting personal information from unencrypted German Wi-Fi networks, said the company had not made sufficient changes to give users greater control over how their online information is aggregated.

Mr. Caspar added that while Google excluded personally delicate data like sexual orientation from its online advertising products, combining all the user information from across its services could eventually create “meaningful and comprehensive personal records” of individuals without their consent.

The search giant may also take the case to a local German court if it does not agree with the initial ruling, according to the spokesman for the data protection commissioner.