Google’s Privacy Policy to Be Assessed by Ireland, France

Google may have changes to its privacy policy assessed by the Irish and French data-protection agencies. Google said it will combine more than 70 privacy policies for some of its separate products, including Android software for mobile phones, to create a “beautifully simple, intuitive user experience.” The changes take effect on March 1. Ireland’s data-protection agency will “be further assessing the implications of the changes now that they are launched to users,” Gary Davis, the country’s deputy data- protection commissioner, said. Google and Facebook have their European headquarters in Ireland. Facebook last month agreed to overhaul its service in Europe after a probe by the country’s data-protection agency. Google was targeted earlier by data- protection authorities across the European Union over its Street View program, which lets users click on maps to see photographs of roadsides. France’s National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties will also examine the policies, Bertrand Pailhes, an official at the agency known as CNIL, said. He said CNIL intends to reach an informal opinion that won’t be legally binding.