Google calls for privacy standards

Search giant Google has called on governments worldwide to set universal privacy standards for the internet.

The comments were made by Google's privacy advocate Peter Fleischer at a United Nations conference in Strasborg.

He pointed out that not many countries have relevant laws concerning online privacy.

The EU, though it has strict regulations concerning personal privacy, drew up most of its laws in this area before the internet was in widespread use.

In addition to this, regulations vary between nations and it is often unclear which laws apply as the web is an international phenomenon.

"The minority of the world's countries that have privacy regimes follow divergent models," Fleischer said.

Fleischer called for countries to adopt guidelines agreed by some APEC (Asia-Pacific) nations including Australia and New Zealand, which aim to protect the online rights of the individual.

Fleischer's comments were welcomed by analyst David Bradshaw of Ovum but Bradshaw called on Google to go one step further.

"While we welcome this initiative, we think that Google has the opportunity to take this initiative even further, to the ultimate advantage of its users, its customers and its own business," said Bradshaw.

"Google has the opportunity to take the high ground on privacy. For example, it could declare that, so far as local regulations allow, its global operations will seek to comply with the most demanding rules that it is subject to in any one jurisdiction," Bradshaw continued.

Google's privacy policies have been under scrutiny recently, after Privacy International accused Google of being "hostile to privacy".

You can read Web User's assessment of Google's privacy policy here.

www.google.co.uk

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