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UK Privacy Issues Cleared For Google
WebProNews
Staff Writer
2004-04-14
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Google's new email service Gmail, source of much criticism based on ad placement procedures, may be getting some good news. As long as UK users are not being deceived by this practice, Gmail should be clear of its legal issues.
Gmail's UK launch was challenged because Google intends to scan emails and place contextually based ads within them. This practice has been scrutinized and protested since Google announced the launch of Gmail.
As first reported in Silicon.com, "Privacy International urged the UK Information Commissioner to take action against the service." The Commissioners office released its ruling, stating that as long as Google was upfront with the practice, it should be allowed to launch its service in the UK.
A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "As long as it's transparent to people when they sign up that Google is monitoring their email usage and passing that information on for marketing purposes, then they probably wouldn't be breaking any legislation. Until Gmail's up and running, though, we can't be certain."
Google has maintained that it has the "highest regard" for user privacy and that any information scanned would only be used for ad placement. Google has no intentions of making this information available to third party businesses.
Google echoes these sentiments in a statement to Silicon.com. "We are confident that Gmail is fully compliant with data protection laws worldwide. We look forward to a detailed dialogue with data protection authorities across Europe to ensure their concerns are heard and resolved."
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