Legality+Perspective+on+Google's+Privacy+Policy

__**Google's Privacy Policy**__

On March 1, 2012 Google Inc. changed their privacy policy for all users of their site. According to Google, this change in the privacy policy was to simply 60 guidelines into a single one. What this means is that Google can now share information with all of it's services to help provide more relevant ads based around the individual user and to also make sharing and connecting with others easier. According to [|Google's Privacy Policy]:

Information we collect
We collect information to provide better services to all of our users – from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful or the people who matter most to you online. We collect information in two ways: >> We may collect device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone number). Google may associate your device identifiers or phone number with your Google Account. >> When you use our services or view content provided by Google, we may automatically collect and store certain information in [|server logs]. This may include: >> When you use a location-enabled Google service, we may collect and process information about your actual location, like GPS signals sent by a mobile device. We may also use various technologies to determine location, such as sensor data from your device that may, for example, provide information on nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.
 * ** Information you give us. ** For example, many of our services require you to sign up for a Google Account. When you do, we’ll ask for [|personal information], like your name, email address, telephone number or credit card. If you want to take full advantage of the sharing features we offer, we might also ask you to create a publicly visible [|Google Profile] , which may include your name and photo.
 * ** Information we get from your use of our services. **We may collect information about the services that you use and how you use them, like when you visit a website that uses our advertising services or you view and interact with our ads and content. This information includes:
 * ** Device information **
 * ** Log information **
 * details of how you used our service, such as your search queries.
 * telephony log information like your phone number, calling-party number, forwarding numbers, time and date of calls, duration of calls, SMS routing information and types of calls.
 * [|Internet protocol address].
 * device event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL.
 * cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your Google Account.
 * ** Location information **

__**Th**____**e Legality of the Privacy Policy**__ Many questions and concerns have been brought up over whether or not Google's Privacy Policy is a violation of users Internet data privacy. Agencies in different countries have expressed their concerns with the new policy and some have even filed suit or are putting Google under investigation. Some countries include:
 * The United States
 * EPIC ([|Electronic Privacy Information Center])- Filed suit against the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) because they feel the new Google privacy policy violates the consent order that was mandated. The consent order came after Google settled with the FTC, at the end of 2011, over the deceptive use of privacy practices.
 * France
 * CNIL ([|Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés])- Are leading a European-wide investigation into the legality the new Google privacy policy that they feel breaches a 1995 [|data] law. "CNIL found out that [Google's privacy policy and the data protection rules] do conflict... It is now up to the national data supervisors to find a solution," Viviane Reding [European Union's Justice Commissioner] told reporters.
 * Japan
 * Japan has expressed concerns to Google on how the government feels the new privacy policy may breach Japanese data protection laws. They asked for an explanation from Google Inc.
 * Japan has expressed concerns to Google on how the government feels the new privacy policy may breach Japanese data protection laws. They asked for an explanation from Google Inc.

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