State attorneys general: Google privacy changes appear to harm consumers

Dozens of state attorneys general wrote Google’s chief executive to express “strong concerns” that the company’s new privacy policies starting next week will violate consumer privacy.

In a letter to CEO Larry Page, the state attorneys general said the plan to begin sharing consumer data across Google’s services on March 1 “forces these consumers to allow information across all of these products to be shared, without giving them the proper ability to opt out.” The law enforcement officials said users may want to keep their Web searching history separate from information they get from Gmail or YouTube. But for users signed on to those services, that data will be blended by the search giant to serve up ads better tailored to users preferences. “It rings hollow to call their ability to exit the Google products ecosystem a ‘choice’ in an Internet economy where the clear majority of all Internet users use — and frequently rely on — at least one Google product on a regular basis,” the state attorneys general wrote to Page. And they said the costs to switch e-mail and document applications could be enormous for businesses and government offices that use Google apps.

They requested a meeting with Page to explain the privacy policies and an answer to their letter by Feb. 29. The letter was signed by, among others, Maryland attorney general Douglas Gansler, California’s Kamala Harris and New York’s Eric Schneiderman.