On the heels of Rep. Cliff Stearns’ (R-FL) call for Google to brief lawmakers on its new privacy policy, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) released a statement blasting the search engine for the new policy, which Markey said “undermines privacy safeguards for consumers” and doesn’t allow a satisfactory “opt-out” provision. Markey also requested that Google meet with him.
Markey’s statement in full:
“Sharing users’ personal information across its products may make good business sense for Google, but it undermines privacy safeguards for consumers. Despite Google’s recent response, it still appears that consumers will not be able to completely opt-out of data collection and information sharing among Google’s services. Congress and consumers need more details, and I look forward to meeting with Google to get clarification about what the options are for consumers who wish to say no to these new changes.”
Markey and Stearns are among the eight House lawmakers who signed a letter to Google CEO Larry Page on Friday, asking for Google to answer 11 in-depth questions about its new privacy policy.
Google responded on Tuesday with a lengthy explanation, again saying its policy was meant to “simplify” its user experience, allowing the search giant to collect and combine data across its myriad products — including Gmail, YouTube and Google Search.
