Google to change privacy policy after ICO investigation

The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office has required Google to sign a formal undertaking to improve the information it provides to people about how it collects personal data in the UK after concerns were raised around changes to the company’s privacy policy.

The ICO found that the search engine was too vague when describing how it uses personal data gathered from its web services and products. Google introduced a new privacy policy in March 2012 combining around 70 existing policies for various services, but the ICO ruled that the new policy did not include sufficient information for service users as to how and why their personal data was being collected. Google has now signed an undertaking committing to make further changes to the privacy policy to ensure it meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act and to take steps to ensure that future changes to its privacy policy comply, including user testing. The search engine must now make the agreed further changes by June 30th, 2015 and take further steps over the next two years.