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Privacy Commissioners Raise Good Points in Their Letter to Google

Last week, the Privacy Commissioners of Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom sent a letter to Google revisiting the privacy issues raised by Google’s introduction earlier this year of Google Buzz. Readers will recall that when Buzz was rolled out, Google automatically assigned Gmail users a network of “followers” from among users’ most frequent Gmail correspondents. This was done without adequately informing Gmail users about how this new service would work, and without providing sufficient information that would allow informed decisions. As stated in the Privacy Commissioners’ letter: “This violated the fundamental principle that individuals should be able to control the use of their personal information.”

The Commissioners’ April 19, 2010 letter was eclipsed in the news by the Icelandic Volcano that caused the absence of the some of the Privacy Commissioner signatories at the Washington, DC Press Conference to discuss the letter and by the simultaneous release by Google of a report on government requests for personal information.

While the letter did not make the front page of newspapers, and while the buzz over the privacy missteps by Google in introducing Buzz may be old news — Google accepted responsibility when it happened, saying it was sorry, and revised the privacy settings — the fundamental issues raised by the Privacy Commissioners in their recent letter deserve further attention. In writing to Google, the Commissioners said:

We therefor call on you, like all organisations entrusted with people’s personal information, to incorporate fundamental privacy principles directly into the design of new online services. That means, at a minimum:

• collecting and processing only the minimum amount of personal information necessary to achieve the identified purpose of the product or service;

• providing clear and unambiguous information about how personal information will be used to allow users to provide informed consent;

• creating privacy-protective default settings;

• ensuring that privacy control settings are prominent and easy to use;

• ensuring that all personal data is adequately protected, and

• giving people simple procedures for deleting their accounts and honouring their requests in a timely way.

The Dutch Commissioner observed that the Google letter could be the “last warning” to Google and other online companies with respect to the privacy principles the letter advanced. So, a discussion of data minimization, transparency, default privacy-protective settings, prominent controls, data security and prompt account deletion clearly is in order for companies launching new online services or proposing to change existing services. Just saying “sorry” after a misstep, as Google did with Buzz, will no longer satisfy privacy watchdogs, that seems clear.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Understanding Online Tracking, Profiling & Targeting

The first Online Tracking, Profiling and Targeting event will take place on April 29, 2010 at the One King West Hotel in Toronto. Information is available in the Consultation Notice.

Audience seating is now very limited for this event – please contact us if you still wish to attend.

8:30 – 9:30 am Opening Remarks

Ms. Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Mr. Brian Beamish, Assistant Commissioner for Access, OIPC Ontario

Ms. Elizabeth Denham, Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada

9:30 – 10:00 am International Context for these Consultations

Mr. David C. Vladeck, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, US Federal Trade Commission

10:30 – 11:45 am Panel 1: Advertising

Dr. Avner Levin, Director of the Privacy and Cyber Crime Institute, Ryerson University

Ms. Anne Toth, Chief Privacy Officer, Yahoo

Mr. Jules Polonetsky, Director, Future of Privacy Forum

Ms. Paula Gignac, President, Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada

1:15 – 2:30 pm Panel 2: Location-based/Geospatial Tracking

Dr. Teresa Scassa, Canada Research Chair in Information Law, University of Ottawa

Mr. Jesse Hirsh, Broadcaster

Mr. Keith McIntosh, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association

Mr. Ross Buchanan, Director of Digital and Relationship Marketing, Molson Coors Canada

Mr. Prashant Shukle, Director General of the Mapping Information Branch, Natural Resources Canada

3:00 – 4:15 pm Panel 3: Children’s Privacy in the Evolving Online Environment

Ms. Sara Grimes, PhD Candidate with the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University

Mr. Matthew Johnson, Media Education Specialist, Media Awareness Network

Ms. Catherine Connors, parenting blogger and author of www.HerBadMother.com

Dr. Jacquelyn Burkell, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario

2010 NSF Information, Integration and Informatics Workshop

The growth in scale, diversity and complexity of data has increased the demand for understanding large amount of heterogeneous data. The Information Integration and Informatics (III) program focuses on the processes and technologies involved in creating, managing, visualizing, and understanding this heterogeneous data. Given the III focus, the workshop goals include:

Analyzing and focusing on the research and development issues of problems that are fundamental in making progress toward understanding complex data;

Specifying current and new areas where major breakthroughs appear possible;

Identifying needed collaborations (e.g., inter-disciplinary, academic-industry); and

Identifying research initiatives and facilities needed to meet current and future challenges.

In addition, conference participants will share accomplishments, provide demonstrations and interact with each other. They will also discuss the objectives, contributions and challenges of major research activities funded by the Information, Integration and Informatics program. Finally, the workshop will provide participants an opportunity to explore fruitful collaboration and synergism.

April 22-23, 2010

Rosslyn, VA

April 9, 2010 – Apple Lets iPhone Users Control App Location, Sci-tech-today