Google is calling on the UN to help protect the privacy of web surfers around the world before the internet faces a crisis of confidence.Google’s privacy chief, Peter Fleischer, will address a conference in Strasbourg of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) today and ask for governments and businesses to agree on international privacy standards.Mr Fleischer said the rise of the internet meant that vast amounts of information were being shipped around the globe, often to countries with no official data protection. Without a new set of rules to apply worldwide, surfers could lose confidence in the internet and hamper its development, he told the Guardian.”Three quarters of the countries in the world have no privacy regimes at all and among those that do have laws, many of them were largely adopted before the rise of the internet,” he said.”It’s said that every time you use a credit card, your details are passed through six different countries. We’re talking about this to help set the framework for the internet of the future.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/sep/14/news.googleAlso see:
Google says world could use Kiwi-style approach to privacy
… Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel, will use a regional UNESCO conference in Strasbourg as a forum to call on countries to adopt as a global standard a set of privacy principles agreed to by a variety of Asia-Pacific countries. He specifically mentioned New Zealand in a list of countries with desirable approaches to privacy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10463578
Google proposes global privacy standard
While Google is leading a charge to create a global privacy standard for how companies protect consumer data, the search giant is recommending that remedies focus on whether a person was actually harmed by having the information exposed.Google’s proposal is scheduled to be presented by Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel in a speech Friday in Strasbourg, France, at UNESCO’s meeting on ethics and human rights. He briefed reporters on Thursday.The proposal follows the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Privacy Framework, which has been endorsed by many of the APEC nations, including Australia and Hong Kong, but not all. China, for instance, does not endorse it, Fleischer said.”Google believes we need to work together to create minimum global standards partly by law and partly by self-regulation,” he said in a telephone conference call. “We need a collaboration between government and the private sector.”
http://www.news.com/2100-1030_3-6207927.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d969a326-6226-11dc-bdf6-0000779fd2ac.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/14/1189276947461.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6207927.html