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Privacy Watchdog EPIC Sues To Block Google’s New Privacy Policy

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed suit to block Google’s new unified privacy policy. They claim that the new policy violates a consent order issued in October of 2011 concer...
Privacy Watchdog EPIC Sues To Block Google’s New Privacy Policy
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  • The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed suit to block Google’s new unified privacy policy. They claim that the new policy violates a consent order issued in October of 2011 concerning Google’s short-lived Google Buzz social network. The order prevents Google from combining user data without consent.

    EPIC filed their suit against the Federal Trade Commission in federal court in the District of Columbia. They filed a complaint (PDF) and a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction (PDF) seeking to require the FTC to enforce the consent order and prevent Google from making the changes to their privacy policy.

    Google’s attempt to create a simple, unified privacy policy for all their services has been met with a storm of controversy since it was announced late last month. Many expressed concerns about the impact of the new policy on their own privacy, and on Google’s access to their data. The situation drew the attention of Congress as well as the European Union, a prompted efforts by Google to set the record straight.

    A request for comment from Google has not yet received a response. The new privacy policy is intended to go into effect on March 1.

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