The European watchdogs have warned Google that they could face legal action if they fail to rewrite their privacy policy.
Previously, Google have been censured in Europe over its collection of WiFi data, such as usernames, passwords and websites viewed, whilst collecting photos for its Street View System.
Now, over a year after the search engine unilaterally altered its privacy policy to unify data collection, the watchdogs in the UK, Germany and Italy have told Google that they must rewrite their privacy policy in Europe or they are to avoid facing legal action.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office the privacy policy Google introduced in March 2012 raises a number of questions about Google’s compliance with the UK Data Protection Act – and they have given Google until the middle of September this year to comply or face legal action.
In addition to the warning from the Information Commissioner’s Office, the head of Germany’s equivalent to the Information Commissioner’s Office has said that he will call Google into a legal hearing as a result of their policy violating the “company’s commitment to full transparency about the use and handling of the data.”
Following the warning from the European watchdogs, Google said in a statement that their “privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services.”
The statement adds that Google have “fully with the authorities involved throughout this process, and we’ll continue to do so going forward.”