EU group says Google-DoubleClick deal will harm privacy

European consumer groups warn that a Google takeover of DoubleClick would erode consumers’ privacy and push up prices for online goods and servicesEuropean consumer groups warned the European Commission Thursday that Google’s plan to take over the online advertising company DoubleClick, currently under investigation, would erode consumers’ privacy and would push up prices for online goods and services.In a letter to competition commissioner Neelie Kroes, BEUC, the pan-European Union consumer group, together with three national associations, urged the Commission to use its powers to block the deal in its current form.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/20/EU-says-Google-DoubleClick-deal-will-harm-privacy_1.htmlAlso see:European lobby rejects Google-Doubleclick merger [Reuters]
Continent’s top consumer group says the planned takeover’s intrusion into individual privacy is over the top.Google’s planned takeover of online ad giant DoubleClick for $3.1 billion will harm European citizens through greater intrusion into their privacy, the continent’s top consumer group said Thursday.”The Google/DoubleClick merger would harm consumer welfare by creating a structure that almost certainly will be less respectful of user privacy,” the BEUC said Thursday in a letter to the European Commission this week.
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