Google told to come clean over DoubleClick privacy

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 22 May 2008 at 08:48

The top Republican on the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has asked Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to detail the search engine's privacy practices since it acquired rival DoubleClick.

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"It is critical that Google's and DoubleClick's policies and procedures for handling this information be transparent, and that every effort is made to protect consumers' data," Texas representative Joe Barton wrote in a letter to the company dated 21 May.

In the letter, Barton asked if and how data collected by Google and DoubleClick about computer users would be merged, how the data would be used, and if Google planned to continue allowing users to opt out of ad-serving cookies.

Privacy advocates have expressed concern that a wave of consolidation in online advertising would lead to a concentration of personal information in the hands of a few powerful companies. The lucrative online advertising industry has prompted a string of deals in recent months.

Barton also asked Google if a new technology to identify who should receive ads would retain the IP address and user ID, or browser ID.

Schmidt and Barton met in November, and two of Barton's aides went to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California in December to discuss privacy.

"We have had a constructive ongoing dialogue with Rep. Barton's staff about our privacy practices, and while the integration of DoubleClick into Google is still underway, we will of course respond to his questions," Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said in an e-mailed response to questions about the letter.

Barton asked Google to reply to his questions by 6 June.