Google Glass isn't publicly available yet, and even the Explorer edition is supposed to only be for US residents, but that's not stopping the Canadian government from getting out in front of what it considers to be several privacy issues surrounding the device. Data protection authorities in Canada sent a letter today to Google CEO Larry Page, asking the company to take part in a "real dialogue" about the "significant privacy issues" related to Google Glass. Here's a portion of the letter, which is signed by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and 36 provincial and internatio [...]

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Last night, what might be called a "transparency battle" erupted between Google and Facebook following Facebook's disclosure of government-related user-data requests: For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the gamut – from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a p [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook: International | Facebook: Legal | Facebook: Privacy | Google: International | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: PRISM | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Privacy | Top News

Over the years, Google has received several letters from the US Congress worried that it is somehow invading people's privacy. Now Congress, along with the Obama Administration and the US judicial system, is accused of invading the privacy of people who use Google's services. I thought the turnabout would be fair play, a letter from Google back to Congress. The letter below isn't real, but the points and unanswered questions are. I've written in the style of the latest letter Google received from Congress, last month about Google Glass. As Google professes it is not part of any data g [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: PRISM | Legal: Privacy

Both Google and Facebook gave the press statements yesterday denying involvement with the US National Security Agency's PRISM data gathering program. Today, both are making that statement more strongly and taking it directly to its users. Google To Users Writing today on the Google blog, Google CEO Larry Page and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said: We have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our d [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Privacy | Legal: PRISM | Legal: Privacy

[caption id="attachment_47324" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Source: Washington Post, The Guardian[/caption] Both the Washington Post and The Guardian are out with stories saying that several major Internet companies gave the US National Security Agency direct access to user data on their servers by participating in what's been named as the PRISM program. But, Google, Apple & Facebook flat-out deny being in that program, while Yahoo and Microsoft have issued general denials. Google, it denied participation in PRISM to us, when asked specifically about the program, plus gave us the [...]

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In 2006, AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo all complied with Bush Administration Justice Department (DOJ) subpoenas to turn over search records -- without a fight. The subpoenas were issued pursuant to the Child Online Protection Act of 1998, which the Supreme Court had previously ruled to be unconstitutional. The requests were made anyway, and Google was the only major search engine to resist. Whether the Bush Administration anti-child porn search subpoenas were a pretext for other types of inquiries we'll never know. But now, history is repeating itself. This time it's the Obama Administration see [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Features & Analysis | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy

In the midst of the 2013 Google I/O developer conference currently being held in San Francisco, Google CEO Larry Page received a formal letter from eight-members of congress addressing Google Glass privacy issues. The letter from Congress outlined eight specific areas of concern, asking specifically: Does Google have plans to prevent Google Glass from unintentionally collecting data about the user/non-user without consent? (After referencing  Google's agreement to settle charges in 2010 for collecting information from encrypted wireless networks without permission.) What proactive st [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Glass | Google: Legal | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Politics | Top News

[caption id="attachment_43692" align="alignright" width="300"] Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen[/caption] Whereas the Google of old might just throw products "over the wall" and not think much about their real world impacts, the Google of today has much more respect for what its digital products might do in the real world, says Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt. That's one reason why Google Glass is in a long and limited distribution process, he gave as an example. Schmidt was at Google Los Angeles last week, speaking to an audience of Google employees and outside guests from the area [...]

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Along with co-author and foreign policy expert Jared Cohen, Google Executive Chairman is doing the rounds on radio and TV in support of their new book The New Digital Age. This evening, both were interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered program. I don't have an advance copy of the book and haven't read it. But, the interview made me curious. If it's any indication, there's considerable time spent on the darker political and social implications of the Internet and the way it may play out differently in various parts of the world. Schmidt and Cohen appear to have a very balanced -- one m [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: Privacy | Politics | Top News

A recent survey conducted by the USC Annenberg Center for Digital Future and Bovitz Inc., revealed "Millennials" (those 18-35)  have a different attitude than Internet users 35 years and older when it comes to sharing their personal data online with businesses. While 70 percent of Millennials agreed with the statement, "No one should ever be allowed to have access to my personal data," 56 percent said they would share their location with a nearby company in return for a relevant coupon or promotional deal. Only 42 percent of users 35 years and older agreed they would share their location. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Facebook: Privacy | Google: Privacy | Internet Marketing Industry: Stats | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Privacy | Statistics: Online Behavior

The European Union's privacy watchdog announced today that as Google hasn't made suggested changes to its privacy policy, it will continue investigating. Well, six EU countries will, to see if there's actual action to be taken against Google. The European Union's "Article 29 Working Party," an EU-wide privacy body, was upset with Google's privacy within days of it being announced in January 2012. The eventually led to the French privacy regulatory body CNIL to ask, on behalf of the entire Article 29 body, for Google to make some changes, including: Tell users what data are being collec [...]

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Alma Whitten, Google's Director of Privacy for Product and Engineering, is leaving the company this summer. Forbes first reported her move, and Google has confirmed it with us. Whitten has been with Google since 2003, but took the role of Director of Privacy in 2010 as part of Google's forced cleanup after the company's Wi-Fi data collection screw up. Part of Whitten's mandate was to build privacy awareness and controls throughout Google's products. That resulted in, among other things, a controversial privacy policy consolidation that went into effect on March 1, 2012. A Google spoke [...]

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When it comes to the issue of privacy, it seems that Google and Europe are on opposite sides of an ocean, metaphorically speaking. Reuters reports this morning that frustrated European authorities "plan to take action" against Google for its failure to satisfy them regarding its consolidated privacy policy. Google has maintained that its privacy policy conforms to all European laws and regulations. Privacy regulators from France and across Europe have heavily criticized the "consolidated" Google privacy policy and say it overreaches. However, they've stopped short of declaring it "illegal." [...]

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It's been a week since Microsoft went on the attack against Gmail, launching its "Scroogled" campaign portraying Gmail as a privacy monster that reads your emails for ad targeting purposes. How's that been working out? To date, the Microsoft-backed petition against Gmail's practices has gained about over 6,000 signatures -- equal to about 0.002% of Gmail's user base. The Petition To Nowhere At the Scroogled site, Microsoft invites people to sign an online petition. In the week it has been up, it's gathered about 5,600 signatures: That's hardly an overwhelming response, especially consider [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Features & Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Google: Critics | Google: Gmail | Google: Privacy | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Outlook | Microsoft: Privacy | Top News

The wave of browsers using Google SSL Search -- and thus blocking publishers from receiving search term data -- continues. Google's own Chrome browser is next up, with the latest Chrome 25 beta using encryption. Google shared the news on its Chromium blog today. Chrome follows in the footsteps of Firefox and mobile Safari, which added encryption last year. Our stories below have more background on that: Firefox 14 Now Encrypts Google Searches, But Search Terms Still Will “Leak” Out How An iOS 6 Change Makes It Seem Like Google Traffic From Safari Has Disappeared The Safari [...]

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Two months after Microsoft introduced the same type privacy policy changes that Google did, and was attacked by the European Union over, the EU is finally getting around to questioning the Microsoft move. Microsoft's change happened on October 19. It was announced with little notice to consumers. Despite allowing for cross-platform sharing in the way privacy changes at Google allowed earlier this year, it attracted virtually no press attention nor that of regulators. In contrast, Google's change drew heavy attention the day it was announced and which continued on. Ten days after the anno [...]

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A year ago, Google began going dark. Dark in terms of no longer sharing with publishers, in some cases, how people searched for and found those publishers through Google's search engine. The "single digit" percentage of withholding that Google predicted at the time has turned into more than 50%, in some cases. If Google's withholding were an eclipse, more than half the sun is being covered. "Dark Google" is upon us, and it will only grow darker. I'm drawing the term "Dark Google" as a play off the "Dark Social" concept that Alexis Madrigal wrote about recently in The Atlantic. Dark Socia [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Google: Privacy | Google: SEO | Search Marketing | Search Marketing Column

After all the saber rattling, commentary and anticipation yesterday there was an expectation that Google would be asked by European data protection authorities, led by the French privacy regulator CNIL, to "unravel" or roll back its unified privacy policy. There was also a strong suggestion that there might be fines imposed. Instead we essentially got a relatively polite request to make some modest changes to the privacy policy, mostly around disclosures to end users. The coverage today of the CNIL letter to Larry Page (embedded below) is all over the map, with some outlets focused on hypot [...]

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Earlier this year, in March, Google consolidated more than 70 different privacy policies into a single more unified policy that allowed it to combine user data from all Google properties into a single view. Google argued that it represented privacy simplification for users (which was true). However it also benefited Google with more insight into its users' activities on the Google network, the ability to deliver more personalized search results and presumably enabled better ad targeting. The Europeans raised concerns about Google's new privacy policy at the time and suggested that it might [...]

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Earlier this year, Google announced a privacy policy change that was widely covered by tech blogs, the mainstream press and which generated much governmental concern. Last month, Microsoft announced the same type of change. That generated little reaction. Either Microsoft's change deserved the same scrutiny from all the same parties that examined Google so closely or Google got unfairly attacked. This is a long article, so let me say from the start that I don't think consumers need to fear either the change Google did or the one that Microsoft will implement later this month. You can jump [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Features & Analysis | Google: Privacy | Microsoft: Privacy | Top News