There’s a story on Reuters today detailing how ten countries have issued a letter to Google asking that the corporation revise their policies as to data distribution and privacy. The letter; signed by the governmental data protection chiefs of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain; addresses the privacy issues addressed when Google Buzz leaked contacts into the public view, Google Street View in other countries in regards to blurring of faces and “continued concern about the adequacy of the information you provide before the images are captured,” and other requests to lessen the amount of information stored about users, clear terminology for how the data collected about users is to be used, strict protection of said information, and simple procedures for deletion. Frankly, this letter, in my opinion, is insulting and demonstrates that these heads of government for the protection of data have never spent a day using Google’s products.
Let’s start thing’s off with Google’s Privacy Center, where you can read the Privacy Policy or, if you’re not really into reading, you can watch a video explaining Google’s Five Privacy Principles. Google is already committed to keeping people’s information secure, and give them easy access to the level of information they want to be made available to the public view. Buzz was an unfortunate instance where the dynamic that Google was attempting to achieve superseded its usual care for control, but as soon as the problem was discovered it was addressed.
Worlds As Myth 