14 DAY TRIAL // Google's privacy woes are dragging other parties into the mess. The company recently announced plans to unify 60 privacy policies into one document that would govern over most Google products.
The idea is to make it easier for users to know what they are getting.
The new privacy policy, however, also makes it clearer that Google can share your data between its products, with some exceptions for example ad tracking. Google was already able to do that to a degree.
Coming after a bad month for Google, the move was seen as a negative one by some parties including some privacy advocacy groups. One of the most vehement was EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which sued the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in order to determine it to sue Google over its latest move.
EPIC's argument was that Google's move was in violation of a settlement between Google and the FTC over privacy issues in Buzz. The settlement requires Google not to share user data with third-parties without users’ express.
It also prevents Google from launching new products that change the way user data is handled or that don't comply with its existing policies. The FTC will also audit Google for 20 years over the matter.
Now, the FTC has moved to dismiss the EPIC lawsuit essentially saying that EPIC has no basis to force it to sue or investigate any company.
The FTC doesn't delve much into the issue at heart, whether it should or shouldn't sue or investigate Google, focusing rather on the fact that it believes EPIC shouldn't be able to interfere with FTC operation, which is the basis of the lawsuit in the first place. That's not to say the FTC won't look into the issue or isn't already.