EU privacy regulators may take action over Google's policies

Internet giant Google may face repressive action from EU privacy regulators over privacy concerns.

A number of European privacy watchdogs are still waiting for the firm to respond to the suggestions they made following a lengthy investigation: With a deadline set for Google to take action now passed.

Google unified more than 60 separate privacy policies into one single policy in March last year, allowing the firm to use data collected for Internet marketing purposes, generating more user specific targeted advertising.

This policy update upset a number of privacy watchdogs and resulted in a group of 27 of them including Britain's Information Commissioner and lead by the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL), to investigate the Internet giant further.

In October of last year, following an investigation that spanned several months, the search engine firm was then recommended by the CNIL and the European data protection authorities it represents to improve its data subjects' information and further clarify the combination of data across Google's services.

However, according to a statement from the CNIL, no response has come from Google, despite the end of a four-month deadline.

The statement read: "In this context, the EU data protection authorities are committed to act and continue their investigations. Therefore, they propose to set up a working group, lead by the CNIL, in order to coordinate their repressive action which should take place before summer."

Google however issued a statement in response to the criticism, denying any such wrong doing over its privacy policy.

The statement read: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services.

"We have engaged fully with the CNIL throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward."

CNIL said it will now meet with its European counterparts in order to discuss the a further course of action on February 26.

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