Johannes Caspar, who heads the data protection office for the German state of Hamburg asserts that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is compiling customers’ data without asking for their consent. Hence, it looks like one of the world’s most valuable companies is having issues with privacy concerns, once again. Is this starting to sound like deja vu?
Caspar went on to state, “By compiling data from its different services under a single user ID, Google has access to an in-depth personal profile of its users. Google has to respect its users’ right of self-determination.” In addition, Hamburg-based spokesman, Kay Oberbeck, conveyed that Google is currently in discussions over its privacy policy.
As recently as March 2012, Google simplified 60 privacy policies in a general one that tracks user data over e-mail, YouTube, social networking and other various services. To illustrate, if you type something into a Google search box, it may pop up again in a Google advertisement or Google Maps.
This isn’t Google’s first run-in with Europe. In April 2013, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the U.K. and Germany worked together to enforce measures against Google for failure to comply with their requests.
Also, in January, France’s National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties, or CNIL, fined Google 150,000 euros ($210,000) for not being willing to share enough information about how it utilizes personal data. This came on the heels of a 900,000-euro penalty implemented by Spanish regulators for failing to comply with their privacy laws.
Google’s largest fine was for $1 million Euros in Italy, when it was found that Google’s Street View cars were driving anonymously throughout the country and violating the privacy of its citizens without first obtaining consent.
