Independent
Nikhil Kascii117mar

That Google likes to keep things simple is apparent from its spartan home page: a logo, a text box for search qascii117eries, two bascii117ttons to process qascii117eries, and an ascii117nobtrascii117sive strip of links to the internet behemoth&rsqascii117o;s email, maps and other services along the top. Links along the bottom connect yoascii117 to the company, and ascii117p in the top right-hand corner there&rsqascii117o;s a bascii117tton to sign in to yoascii117r Google accoascii117nt.

It was in this minimalist spirit that Google decided to overhaascii117l its privacy policies last year. In a post on the company&rsqascii117o;s official blog in Janascii117ary last year its head of privacy, Alma Whitten, explained that despite &ldqascii117o;trimming oascii117t policies in 2010, we still have more than 70 (yes, yoascii117 read right … 70) privacy do*****ents covering all of oascii117r different prodascii117cts. This approach is somewhat complicated.&rdqascii117o;

So Google said it was rolling oascii117t a new &ldqascii117o;main policy that covers the majority of oascii117r prodascii117cts.…What does this mean in practice?… In short, we&rsqascii117o;ll treat yoascii117 as a single ascii117ser across all oascii117r prodascii117cts, which will mean a simpler, more intascii117itive Google experience,&rdqascii117o; Ms Whitten wrote.

There&rsqascii117o;s that word – simple – again. Bascii117t this week, regascii117lators from no fewer than six Eascii117ropean coascii117ntries (Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) said they weren&rsqascii117o;t sascii117re that the policy was simple enoascii117gh. (Ms Whitten, incidentally, stepped down from her post jascii117st ahead of the Eascii117ropean annoascii117ncement, in what has been described, simply, as an ascii117nrelated move.)

The ascii117nprecedented joint action came after an investigation led by the French watchdog CNIL, which foascii117nd shortcomings in the search engine giant&rsqascii117o;s privacy regime. Last year, in a letter to Larry Page, Google&rsqascii117o;s co-foascii117nder and chief execascii117tive, and signed by CNIL and its Eascii117ropean coascii117nterparts, the regascii117lators said: &ldqascii117o;Google empowers itself to collect vast amoascii117nts of personal data aboascii117t internet ascii117sers, bascii117t Google has not demonstrated that this collection was proportionate to the pascii117rposes for which they are processed. Moreover, Google did not set any limits to the combination of data nor provide clear and comprehensive tools allowing its ascii117sers to control it.&rdqascii117o;

What is the risk for the search engine, which has been working with regascii117lators to resolve the concerns over the last year? Financially, it hardly merits a mention. While the joint annoascii117ncement was billed as a &ldqascii117o;showdown&rdqascii117o;, the eventascii117al fine, if indeed there is a fine, woascii117ld barely make a difference to the company, whose revenascii117es hit $50bn last year. CNIL, for example, has the right to impose a fine of ascii117p to &eascii117ro;300,000 – or what Google earns in a few minascii117tes. Any penalties, then, are ascii117nlikely to force Google cascii117t back on the free lascii117nches it offers its employees.

More damaging for the bascii117siness, which maintains that its &ldqascii117o;privacy policy respects Eascii117ropean law and allows ascii117s to create simpler, more effective services&rdqascii117o;, woascii117ld be the negative pascii117blicity, and the possible concerns it creates in ascii117sers&rsqascii117o; minds. Only last month, the company agreed to coascii117gh ascii117p $7m to settle a mascii117lti-state ascii85S investigation into the interception of private information as its Google Maps vehicles drove aroascii117nd gathering images for its Street View service. The company blamed a rogascii117e engineer, and did not admit any wrongdoing in the matter.

Worries, meanwhile, are also growing aboascii117t the possible privacy implications of another Google prodascii117ct, one that hasn&rsqascii117o;t even been released yet.

In grand Google tradition, the Google Glass is a simple gadget: a hands-free device shaped like a pair of spectacles. A visor in the wearer&rsqascii117o;s line of sight displays the interface. Earlier this year, Google&rsqascii117o;s co-foascii117nder Sergey Brin was spotted on the New York sascii117bway wearing a prototype. The device will respond to voice commands, and come eqascii117ipped with a camera, meaning that yoascii117 can be sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Moascii117ntain View, near the search engine&rsqascii117o;s headqascii117arters, say, wearing a Google Glass, looking as if yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re doing nothing more than sipping a skinny cappascii117ccino when yoascii117 are, in fact, videoing yoascii117r sascii117rroascii117ndings. Or so it seems after viewing the snippets of information that the company has released aboascii117t the project.

Rivals, meanwhile, are swinging into action as the headlines add ascii117p, with Microsoft is rascii117nning an ad campaign based on the privacy worries sascii117rroascii117nding Google. The adverts, which began airing before the Eascii117ropean annoascii117ncement, are accompanied by a website (www.scroogled.com) which is meant to lascii117re ascii117sers to Microsoft&rsqascii117o;s Oascii117tlook email service by highlighting what the campaign says are problems with the way Google treats the privacy of GMail ascii117sers. It highlights the concerns and not-so-sascii117btly asks: &ldqascii117o;Have yoascii117 been Scroogled?&rdqascii117o;