Google’s decision to abolish over 60 different privacy policies and replace them all with a single policy has caused considerable controversy. Google’s stated aim is to harmonise its existing terms into one document that will apply across all Google products, including Gmail, Calendar, Search and YouTube. It is expected that in many cases, this new policy will give Google greater access to the personal information of its users across its many services. The proposed implementation date for this policy is March 1 2012.

The Article 29 Working Party, an independent European data protection supervisory body, has written to Google’s chief executive, Larry Page, highlighting its concerns with the new approach. The Chairman of the Article 29 body has asked the French data protection watchdog, CNIL, to lead the investigation.

There have been reported concerns about the protection of personal data in Google’s new policy. Google has said that it “may combine personal information from one service with information, including personal information, from other Google services”. It is not clear whether it will be requiring the permission of users to do this. Critics of the new policy have claimed that it is more complicated than necessary, and not simpler, as promised by Google.

Google has outlined the reasons for the new policy stating that the “main purpose of the new policy is to combine the more than 70 different rules for Google’s wide-ranging services into one which is simpler and more readable”. It has defended its policy changes arguing that “users continue to have choice and control”, for example, by turning off the search history and switching Gmail chat to the “off the record” status.

These changes are being implemented at a time when the draft EU Data Protection Regulation, published on 25 January 2012, proposes to give people a new “right to be forgotten”.  This new right will enable people to ensure the deletion of their online data if there are no legitimate grounds for it being stored.

A particular concern in relation to the new policy is the so-called “super-profile” of an individual that can be determined from the data captured. It is reported that Google plans to collect data from a number of sources and collate this information to allow it to target its advertising.

Google has said that it will co-operate with the investigation but it will not halt its March 1 implementation deadline on the basis that this would result in “significant confusion”.

Contributed by David Cullen