U.K. privacy group wary of Google's Web mail

TalkBack 3 of 3:

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Not so

"Now, the German government comes along and says no".

There is an EU-US opt out for privacy rule that states companies CAN do business in the EU, but only if they apply EU standards of privacy to EU citizens data. (So they could sell US users data but not EU users data).

Google will abide by this just as it has with the VAT directive for example.

So Google is unlikely to have problems and since it has multiple data centres it may even hold the data in one of the European ones (e.g. Ireland) to avoid closer scrutiny by the Commission and Parliament.

If ever Google broke that rule, Germany/EU etc. would go after *Google* in the courts not *Fritz* in Germany.

I don't see anything in the GMail that doesn't also apply to Hotmail and Yahoo mail. They may not say it, but when you delete a file on their servers the same problem applies.

I do think though that US people are getting shafted. Whenever privacy comes up, industry lobbyists try to deflect it. Companies behave like they have a god given right to sell your data and I don't think thats true.

Posted by: Nigel Johnstone   Posted on: 04/06/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize YourServers VMware Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level ... Download Now
• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now
• IBM Smart Business Time Savings Test IBM If time is money - is your organization in need of a way to save both? ... Download Now