FTC Should Extend Terms of Google’s Privacy Settlement, Say Privacy Groups
The FTC should broaden the scope of its Google privacy agreement to other Google services and Internet companies, privacy groups said in FTC filings. In March, Google agreed to create and maintain a “comprehensive” privacy program and submit to independent third-party privacy audits for the next 20 years following the ill-fated launch of the Google Buzz social networking service in 2010 (WID March 31 p1). The Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Privacy Information Center made their suggestions before the FTC’s deadline for public comment Monday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The FTC should extend the agreement to Google’s “far-reaching mobile, display advertising, and interactive marketing platforms,” said comments submitted by CDD. Specifically the agreement should apply to Google’s Content Network, DoubleClick, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, AdMob and its related mobile ad services, Invite Media, and Teracent, CDD wrote. “The privacy of Internet and mobile phone users has been disregarded by the largest online marketing companies,” said Jeff Chester, CDD executive director. In addition the commission must ensure that Google’s mobile and location marketing services “are all required under the consent decree to provide meaningful privacy protection.”
The FTC should go a step further to extend the privacy restrictions to other Internet firms like Facebook, a spokesman for EPIC told us. “The fact that Google will have to come under the FTC scrutiny for the next 20 years is a good thing,” EPIC’s spokesman said Monday. “But we think it should be extended to other Internet firms as well. It provides great structure for all major Internet companies and ISPs going forward,” he said. In particular, the FTC should subject Facebook to similar scrutiny for its questionable privacy practices, EPIC’s spokesman said.
In March, the FTC charged that Google violated its own privacy policies by feeding users’ Gmail information into certain features of the Buzz social network without their consent. The commission unanimously voted to ban Google from misrepresenting the privacy and confidentiality of individuals’ information and required the company to comply with “privacy, security, or compliance programs,” including the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor framework.