Six European countries launch formal investigations into Google's privacy policy

Six European data protection authorities will conduct formal investigations of Google's privacy policy after the company repeatedly rejected their requests that it reverse changes it made to the policy last March.

Data protection authorities in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K. have resolved to conduct investigations or inspections of Google's privacy policy, following an initial investigation by the French data protection authority. The precise nature of the actions will depend on how the European Data Protection Directive has been transposed in their respective national laws. A Google spokeswoman offered the same response the company has made since the beginning of the investigation: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the DPAs involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward." The six data protection authorities working on the case are all members of the Article 29 Working Party (A29WP), which brings together data protection authorities from across the European Union. Last year it mandated the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty to begin an investigation on its behalf, after the company repeatedly refused to answer questions about its plans to introduce a new privacy policy.