Google nears deal to settle inquiry
Source: Bloomberg News |
July 11, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GOOGLE Inc, owner of the world's most popular search engine, is nearing an agreement to pay US$22.5 million to settle a US Federal Trade Commission probe over claims it violated user privacy on Apple Inc's Internet browser, a person familiar with the matter said.
The settlement would resolve a probe over how Google used software that can follow user activities when they accessed the Safari browser, said the person, who declined to be named because the matter hasn't been made public. A Stanford University graduate student found this year that Google, using its DoubleClick ad network, violated users' privacy on Safari, the browser used to access the Web on devices such as the iPhone and iPad.
Google has drawn regulatory scrutiny and pressure from consumer advocates for the way it handles personal data. The company signed a consent decree with the FTC last year in which it settled allegations it used deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy policies in unveiling the Buzz social-networking service in 2010.
"We do set the highest standards of privacy and security for our users," Google said in an e-mailed statement. "The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page." The company has now "changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple's browsers."
The settlement would resolve a probe over how Google used software that can follow user activities when they accessed the Safari browser, said the person, who declined to be named because the matter hasn't been made public. A Stanford University graduate student found this year that Google, using its DoubleClick ad network, violated users' privacy on Safari, the browser used to access the Web on devices such as the iPhone and iPad.
Google has drawn regulatory scrutiny and pressure from consumer advocates for the way it handles personal data. The company signed a consent decree with the FTC last year in which it settled allegations it used deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy policies in unveiling the Buzz social-networking service in 2010.
"We do set the highest standards of privacy and security for our users," Google said in an e-mailed statement. "The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page." The company has now "changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple's browsers."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
