EU won't let search engines hide behind foreign HQs

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 26 Feb 2008 at 12:39

The EU has warned search engines that they must comply with its rules on data privacy, regardless of where they are located.

The Article 29 Working Party, a committee of all of the EU countries' data protection authorities, has summarised the outcome of its most recent meeting, setting out its position ahead of the publication of its full report into search engines' data gathering policies.

"As the use of search engines becomes a daily routine for an ever growing number of citizens, the protection of the users' privacy and the guaranteeing of their rights, such as the right to access to their data and the right to information as provided for by the applicable data protection regulations, remain the core issues of the ongoing debate," the Working Party notes.

It says that as long as search engines are collecting users' IP addresses or search history information then they have to comply with EU rules.

"These provisions also apply to such controllers who have their headquarters outside the EU, but only an establishment in one of the EU Member States, or who use automated equipment based in one of the Member States for the purposes of processing personal data," it says.

The Working Party has already secured concessions from the leading search engine, Google, which agreed last year to curtail the time it stores user data to a year and a half. Google claims that any regulatory requirement to keep data for less than 18 months would undermine its services. The search company also said it would redesign its cookies and reduce their lifespan.

The EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini welcomed Google's plans but the Working Party decided to continue looking into Google's practices while expanding its investigation to include other search engines.