Privacy International demands apology from Google over smear campaign

Google is slated for many reasons relating to privacy, including some worrying ones such as personal user information being retained for an indefinite period of time but without the use having an option to delete it, and the recording of search strings and IP addresses of its users with no clear policy regarding when that data is deleted, thought to be between 18 and 24 months.

PI obviously knew that a Google storm was going to break as a result of this, because it states within that interim report “we are aware that the decision to place Google at the bottom of the ranking is likely to be controversial, but throughout our research we have found numerous deficiencies and hostilities in Google's approach to privacy that go well beyond those of other organizations. While a number of companies share some of these negative elements, none comes close to achieving status as an endemic threat to privacy.”

But perhaps it was not expecting to receive information from two European journalists who, independently of each other, revealed that Google representatives had contacted them with the claim that "Privacy International has a conflict of interest regarding Microsoft."

The article goes on to publish the full text of a letter from Privacy International demanding an apology from Google.

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