Over the past month, Google has announced two policy changes it will be implementing in the near future. Free speech advocates and government officials charged with protecting individuals’ privacy on the Internet have voiced concerns over the forthcoming changes.
I. A Switch to Country Code Top Level Domains
One of the two policy changes will affect Google’s website Blogger—a free weblog publishing tool. Over the next few months, Google will begin to use country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) in order to control the site on a per-country basis, according to the country from which it is being accessed. As Google explains on its Q&A page, rather than seeing [blogname].blogspot.com, users accessing the blog from Australia, for example, will see [blogname].blogspot.com.au.
By using ccTLDs, rather than one general Top Level Domain (such as “.com”), Google will be able to comply with different laws of each country, without affecting users accessing the site from countries without such laws. For example, because pro-Nazi speech is prohibited in France, a French user may be blocked from viewing pro-Nazi content on a blog from Australia. A user in the United States, however, would not be blocked from accessing such content, since the Constitution protects pro-Nazi speech under the First Amendment.
The concern over this policy change is as follows: making it easier to comply with local speech-prohibiting rules will encourage a proliferation of new laws further oppressing speech. Twitter announced a similar policy change prior to Google’s announcement, and received a much more publicized backlash. Critics of Twitter’s move towards localized domains argued that the website was enabling oppressive regimes to continue to silence their citizens through mass censorship. Users of the website even organized a protest in response to this change, joining a #TwitterBlackout, in which participants refrained from using the site for 24 hours on Saturday, January 28, 2012.
Google responds to the criticism by arguing that the policy change will actually “promote free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law.” Google explains further, “By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers. Content removed due to a specific country’s laws will only be removed from the relevant ccTLD.”
Lastly, Google advises concerned users that there will be a way to avoid being redirected to a country-specific domain. “Blog readers may request a specific country version of the blogspot content by entering a specially formatted ‘NCR’ URL. NCR stands for ‘No Country Redirect’ and will always display buzz.blogger.com in English, whether you’re in India, Brazil, Honduras, Germany, or anywhere.”
II. Condensing Multiple Privacy Policies into One
The second change that Google recently announced is its decision to combine about 60 privacy policies into one that, according to Google, is “a lot shorter and easier to read.” Google argues that it is doing this in order to “create a simple product experience” and its goal is “to provide you with as much transparency and choice as possible.” Although Google insists its privacy policies have not changed, the policy reiterates its ability to collect information from users and compile it for more targeted ads and search results. The policy change is set to go into effect on March 1, 2012. As such, organizations and government officials concerned with privacy rights of individuals have requested both more information, and a delay in implementation of this policy.
In the United States, as reported by CNN, a bipartisan group of Congressional members wrote a letter to the CEO of Google, Larry Page, asking for clarification about the changes. Further, authorities from the European Union have also written a letter to Page, requesting that the March 1st date be pushed back, so that it may conduct an investigation to ensure that the new policy does not infringe the rights of their users and EU citizens. According to reports, a French data protection agency has begun the investigation on behalf of 26 other E.U. governments in order to assess the implications of the new privacy policy. Google has not indicated a willingness to pause the new policy from going into effect; in fact, it responded, “delaying the new policy would cause significant confusion.”
Google clarifies, in a post on its public policy blog, that users do not have to log in to use most Google products, and no data is collected when a user is not logged in. Further, when logged in, users can edit or turn off their search histories. Google insists it is not collecting any more information than it has before, but rather, now it is simply being more upfront and transparent about it. Google contends that the information is assembled to enhance user experience by enabling better-targeted advertisements and search results. Lastly, Google reminds users, “[W]e’ll never sell your personal information or share it without your permission (other than rare circumstances like valid legal requests).”
Although Google insists its privacy controls have not changed, Microsoft is taking advantage of the attention Google has received regarding this privacy policy. Microsoft owns Hotmail, Bing and Internet Explorer – all of which compete with various Google programs. In a new print campaign, Microsoft pounces on Google, attacking its methods of gleaning information from its users in order to profit from advertisers, and encouraging users concerned with their privacy rights to make the switch to Microsoft products. Time will tell whether Google users choose to stay with the company, in spite of these policy changes.
