What to make of the EU reaction to Google’s new privacy policy?

Yesterday’s letter from the French National Commission on Information Technology and Freedoms (CNIL) points out some very specific problems in Google’s widely publicized new privacy policy, which comes into effect 1 March.

While the new policy is exemplary in its clear language, the issues the CNIL enumerates are not so arcane as to concern only specialists in data privacy law.

In sum, the CNIL wants Google’s privacy policy to explain 1) which Google services will collect and/or process personal data, 2) the specific personal data which will be collected and/or processed by each service and 3) how Google will inform the individual of her/his rights regarding access, correction, etc. for the personal data held by each service.

While all this sounds like formalities, complying with EU data privacy law is all about formalities. Google should know this better than anyone today, especially considering the level of expertise they have in data privacy matters.

As it is, Google has (for simplicity’s sake, one would surmise) used a negative definition of what it will not do with an individual’s personal data. From a philosophical point of view, this is a bit like the difference between Civil and Common Law conceptions of liberty. For Civilists, a right doesn’t exist unless it is enumerated. Civilists like things written down.

I think that we’ll likely see more PR pushback from Google in the next few weeks until their global data privacy counsel can talk his colleagues and clients into conceding that their new policy could use a few links to deeper explanations to be compliant with EU law. Google wants to be a good European, after all.

The Opinion 10/2004 on More Harmonised Information Provisions is basic but useful guidance on how to draft a compliant privacy policy statement. Well worth looking at.

 

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