Lawmaker asked FTC to investigate whether Google violated consent agreement with new privacy policy changes
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With Google’s new privacy policy set to take effect tomorrow, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), co-Chairman of the Bi-partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, released the following statement. Last month, Reps. Markey and Joe Barton (R-Texas) sent a letter to the FTC asking whether Google’s planned changes to its privacy policy are a violation of its recent settlement with the company. Google’s changes to the privacy policy and terms of service will allow the company to follow the activities of users across nearly all its services, including Gmail, Google Search, and YouTube, with no choice for consumers but either to accept the new policy or stop using Google’s offerings.
 
“Caesar was warned to ‘Beware the Ides of March.’  With Google’s new privacy policy effective tomorrow, consumers should ‘Beware the Eyes of March,” said Rep. Markey.
 
“It may be leap day, but Google’s privacy policy change is a huge leap backward for consumer privacy.  All consumers should have the right to say no to sharing of their personal information, particularly when children and teens are involved. However, coupled with recent discoveries about Google’s efforts to bypass the privacy settings of Internet browsers in order to track users’ online behavior, the company’s changes call into question how Google plans to use this information now and in the future. I will continue to monitor this situation.”
 
This month, Reps. Markey, Barton and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) again wrote the FTC to request that the Commission investigate whether Google violated its recent consent agreement with the agency when it systematically bypassed the privacy settings of users of Apple’s Safari Internet browser to track users’ online activities through the installation of cookies on users’ phones or computers without their consent or knowledge.

 
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