Monday, April 23, 2007
Google-DoubleClick Merger Privacy Threat
From Reuters:Consumer privacy groups on Friday sought to derail Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion deal to buy online ad supplier DoubleClick Inc., filing a complaint with U.S. regulators to block the merger on privacy grounds.
Groups led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center have filed the complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission arguing the merger would violate agreed limits on how much data advertisers collect on consumers and seeking an injunction.
"Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world," the complaint by the privacy activist groups argues.
There should be a general policy of openness about developments, practices and
policies with respect to personal data. Means should be readily available of
establishing the existence and nature of personal data, and the main purposes of
their use, as well as the identity and usual residence of the data
controller.
EPIC led the move in 2000 to prevent DoubleClick from automatically combining data from a national marketing database it had acquired and its own anonymous data collected from the computers of Web surfers. DoubleClick eventually backed down and provided users with an “opt-out” option.
Corporate mergers of this type are a serious threat to privacy as search histories and web site visits could be combined, allowing an individual's activities to be tracked across a wide range of websites. In the U.S., the only law that specifically regulates privacy applies to children under the age of 13. EPIC is urging strong privacy legislation, similar to that in the EU and in Canada.
1 comment:
Yes, it is time folks get used to the idea that Google is not a cadre of hippies. And Doubleclick stuff is the most frequently removed spyware/adware on my computer.
~Becky
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