House Commerce Committee Leaders Pose Additional Questions to Google on Privacy Changes

Following a briefing with Google last week, Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Ranking Member G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) sent a letter to Google’s Chief Executive Officer Larry Page requesting additional information on the company’s recent privacy policy changes.

Reps Bono Mack and Butterfield asked the company to provide detailed responses to a series of questions regarding Google’s policies for capturing and storing users’ personal information. The letter seeks additional information regarding these policies and the effect of the policy changes effective March 1, including: (1) how Google implements user requests to delete information; (2) more detail on how a user can control what information is collected when browsing the web or conducting searches while logged into a Google account; (3) how Google’s recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission affects the planned changes to its privacy policy; and (4) how Google’s educational campaign may be affected by questions from authorities in the United States and Europe; and (5) clarification of Google’s information sharing policies and standards for consumer consent. The subcommittee has been actively engaged in online privacy issues over the past year, holding a series of hearings to track and understand the latest developments in a rapidly changing online environment and what it means for individual users' privacy and data security.