Europe's data protection watchdog wants more time to investigte the Internet giant's policy change Google does not plan to delay its new privacy policy despite calls from Europe’s data protection watchdog.The Article 29 Working Party (A29 WP), made up of the data regulators from all European Union member states as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), sent a letter to Google saying that the Internet giant should “pause” before going ahead with the planned changes to its privacy policy. In January Google announced that it would “simplify” its privacy regulations as of March 1. This would create a single privacy policy for all its services including YouTube, Gmail and Google+.“Given the wide range of services you offer, and the popularity of these services, changes in your privacy policy may affect many citizens in most or all of the E.U. member states,” wrote Jacob Kohnstamm, A29 WP Chairman in a letter to Google CEO Larry Page.“We wish to check the possible consequences for the protection of the personal data of these citizens in a coordinated procedure. In light of the above, we call for a pause in the interests of ensuring that there can be no misunderstanding about Google’s commitments to information rights of their users and EU citizens, until we have completed our analysis,” continues the letter. However, the request is not legally binding and Google believes that any changes to its schedule would confuse users. Spokesman Al Verney also expressed some surprise at the timing of the letter: “We briefed most of the members of the working party in the weeks leading up to our announcement. None of them expressed substantial concerns at the time.” The new policy explains what information Google collects from its users and what it does with it. Recently announced European Commission proposals for the Data Protection Directive would give users new rights such as the right to be forgotten, as well as the requirement for organizations including Google to seek explicit consent before storing any personal data. But these proposals are a long way from being implemented. The French data protection authority, CNIL, will take the lead in investigating the impact of Google’s plans. Related content news Okta launches Cybersecurity Workforce Development Initiative New philanthropic and educational grants aim to advance inclusive pathways into cybersecurity and technology careers. By Michael Hill Oct 04, 2023 3 mins IT Skills Careers Security news New critical AI vulnerabilities in TorchServe put thousands of AI models at risk The vulnerabilities can completely compromise the AI infrastructure of the world’s biggest businesses, Oligo Security said. By Shweta Sharma Oct 04, 2023 4 mins Vulnerabilities news ChatGPT “not a reliable” tool for detecting vulnerabilities in developed code NCC Group report claims machine learning models show strong promise in detecting novel zero-day attacks. By Michael Hill Oct 04, 2023 3 mins DevSecOps Generative AI Vulnerabilities news Google Chrome zero-day jumps onto CISA's known vulnerability list A serious security flaw in Google Chrome, which was discovered under active exploitation in the wild, is a new addition to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency’s Known Exploited vulnerabilities catalog. By Jon Gold Oct 03, 2023 3 mins Zero-day vulnerability Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe