France, Spain launch probe into Google’s privacy law

Spain has launched proceedings against Google over five suspected serious data breaches.Meanwhile France has given the search giant three months to rethink its privacy rules.Since last year Google has been combining data from all its sites to better target adverts, a decision which the EU has said needs a rethink.The search giant said that its privacy practices respect European laws.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22994883Also see:France, Spain take action against Google on privacy
France and Spain led a Europe-wide push on Thursday to get U.S. Internet giant Google to change its policies on collecting user data.News that the U.S. National Security Agency under the Prism surveillance programme secretly gathered user data from nine U.S. companies, including Google, to track people’s movements and contacts makes the timing especially sensitive for Google.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/uk-google-privacy-idUKBRE95J07T20130620
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/21/google-privacy-idINDEE95J06L20130621Google faces potential fines over privacy policy in France, Spain
Data-protection officials in France and Spain are leading a Europe-wide push for Google to change parts of its privacy policy deemed to violate European data-protection laws.The effort comes as Google faces several inquiries from European regulators about its consumer and business practices, and amid questions about its participation in the PRISM surveillance program operated by the U.S. government.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-faces-potential-fines-over-privacy-policy-in-france-spain/2013/06/20/c45d31f4-d9bd-11e2-a016-92547bf094cc_story.htmlGoogle Privacy Comes Under Fire From European Watchdogs
Google Inc. is facing heightened pressure from European regulators, who are getting closer to bringing legal action or fines against the company for alleged violations of data-privacy rules, after more than a year of working together on probes.France’s privacy watchdog, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, said Thursday that it has ordered Google to comply with a series of specific privacy requirements within three months or face fines. Regulators in five other countries — Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.K. — said their parallel investigations are continuing on paths that could eventually lead to similar orders or fines.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324577904578556952125062278.html