A coalition of American and European advocacy groups sent a joint letter to Google on Wednesday, calling on the search giant to suspend its
controversial plan to revamp its privacy policy.
The changes, which take effect Thursday, will allow the company to track signed-in users across a wide array of Google products, including YouTube, Gmail, Blogger and its popular search engine.
In a letter addressed to Google chief executive Larry Page, the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, a coalition of more than 50 consumer groups from the United States and Europe, called the new privacy policy "unfair and unwise."
The letter, which was obtained by The Huffington Post, warned that Google plans to combine data "provided by your users in very different contexts and for very different reasons, into a single profile without user consent and without any meaningful opportunity for users to opt-out," the letter said.
"Going forward with this plan will be a mistake," the letter continued.
A Google spokesperson said the company's updated policy "will make our privacy practices easier to understand, and it reflects our desire to create a seamless experience for our signed-in users," adding that Google is "continuing to offer choice and control over how people use our services."
But on Monday, the French data protection authority said Google's new policy
seems to violate European law. Thirty-six attorneys general
have also raised concerns about the new privacy policy. And consumer groups have
filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates the use of consumers’ data online, arguing that Google's privacy changes violate a settlement agreement last year over privacy involving its social network, Google Buzz.
In their letter Wednesday, the consumer groups said Google's plan "flies in the face" of the recommendation that consumers should have the right to control the collection and use of their personal data.
Over the years, Google has "acquired a great deal of consumers’ personal information," the letter added. "You record virtually every event of a Google user, in far more detail than consumers understand. ... Internet users around the world rely on the integrity of your company, and on you, to do the right thing. Their eyes are all on you."
Earlier this month, Google was
caught bypassing privacy settings on Apple's Safari browser to track the browsing habits of Internet users. Google disabled the code after being contacted by the
Wall Street Journal, which first
reported the story.
Google and other web companies collect a wide array of data about their users, largely for the purpose of targeted advertising. Last week, the Obama administration unveiled a
consumer privacy "bill of rights" that aims to give web users more control over how their personal information is collected and used online.
The "bill of rights" will include seven principles to protect consumers' digital privacy and a new setting on web browsers that allows Internet users to opt out of having their browsing habits monitored. But for major web companies, adhering to the principles is voluntary, and privacy advocates remain skeptical, saying legislation would be a more effective way to protect consumer privacy online.
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department said it was
seeking public comment on what the privacy bill of rights should look like.
Gerry Smith 
Posts
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it is bringing more advertisements to more places -- and, for the first time, to smartphones -- as part of its push to appeal to Wall Street and advertisers in advance of its mega-IPO.
The social networking goliath introduced an expanded plan to reshape both the content and placement of advertisements on its website during its Facebook Marketing Conference in New York City. The company's executives stressed that Facebook advertisements will appear in four locations: In the timeline of a company or brand's Facebook page; on the righthand column of the user's homepage; in the user's News Feed itself (both on mobile devices and on the web); and on the Facebook log-out page.
The bigger change to Facebook advertisements, however, may be in the way that they appear to and interact with users. In addition to the new places you'll find ads, Facebook is pushing marketers to make the ads appear less like explicit advertisements and more like regular updates or Facebook posts. This way, of course, the advertisement can blend in more seamlessly with the updates on the rest of the user's News Feed.
The best strategy for advertisers and for Facebook, according to Facebook execs speaking at the marketing event, is to make content seem less like "ads" and more like "stories." In other words, expect ads to appear in the form of photos, or status updates: Advertisements in the guise of everyday Facebook activity.
Now, who sees these new, camouflaged Facebook advertisements comes with a couple of constraints -- a sort of quality control, if you will. Advertisers cannot simply spam out their messages across the entire social network. In order for a Facebook advertisement to show up on your News Feed or elsewhere, either a friend has to interact with a brand's Facebook page (by Liking that page or posting something on that brand's page), or you yourself must be a fan of a brand's Facebook page. If you are a fan of a brand on Facebook, that brand will now be able to post sponsored content (or, an advertisement) next to your News Feed.
Facebook's other big advertising announcement of the day is that ads will now start appearing on the News Feed of its mobile applications. The company had indicated in its IPO filing that adding advertisements to its smartphone and tablet applications would be key to generating revenue in the future -- it is already seeing a shift to mobile in the way that its users visit its site -- and it appears that Mark Zuckerberg's company will move forward with adding those ads to the mobile News Feed starting soon.
The Huffington Post Jason Gilbert