Open Letter Signed by 10 Countries Slams Google’s Privacy Policies

Google has been taking a lot of heat lately over its privacy practices, to be expected for a company its size. And it’s not about to get any easier for the giant tech company, privacy representatives from ten countries have now sent a joint letter to Google asking it to step up its privacy practices. The cases cited as concerns aren’t anything new, things like Google Buzz and Street View, but the timing seems more than coincidental, Google says.

“[W]e are increasingly concerned that, too often, the privacy rights of the world’s citizens are being forgotten as Google rolls out new technological applications. We were disturbed by your recent rollout of the Google Buzz social networking application, which betrayed a disappointing disregard for fundamental privacy norms and laws,” the letter reads.

“Unfortunately, Google Buzz is not an isolated case. Google Street View was launched in some countries without due consideration of privacy and data protection laws and cultural norms,” it adds.

Officials from Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom have signed the letter addressed to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

The letter goes on to name some of the things Google should do to ensure better privacy for its users. Recommendations include collecting only the personal information that is absolutely necessary for a product, default settings with an emphasis on privacy and making it easier for users to review and change their privacy settings.

All of this is very fine. Google has acknowledged that it rushed Buzz and has rectified its initial mistakes. It may still face an investigation from the FTC in the US. Street View hasn't been much of an issue in the US, but plenty of EU countries have complained about the service.

But there’s absolutely nothing new or too surprising in it. What’s more, the recommendations are common sense and vague enough for Google to argue that it already follows most of them. Other than the symbolic nature of the letter, there’s little substance in it. But that’s probably what the officials intended anyway.

Interestingly, Google provides another angle that certainly sounds plausible. The company is about to make an announcement about the number of requests it receives from governments concerning its services. "Their timing is certainly ironic given that Tuesday we are making an important transparency announcement around government requests," a Google spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal.