EU Tells Google to Delete Street View Pics After 6 Months
The European Union’s Data Protection Working Party has given an express order to Google: Ditch Street View images taken in the UK after six months.
Computerworld reports that the working party found Google’s current 12-month retention time for the images to be a “disproportionate” length of time.
The party reported being “concerned that Street View continues to give rise to data-protection issues,” despite Google’s compliance with the initially laid-out requirements. It also ordered Google to give UK citizens more information and lead time surrounding when its Street View cars would be in particular areas to take photographs.
EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said of the decision, “Google needs to raise much more awareness of Street View cars going though people’s streets as there is an option to opt out of appearing in them but no one knows about it.”
As Nokia’s Henry Tirri recently told us, the EU is known for being more outspoken about privacy issues than other regions, particularly where Street View is concerned.
For its part, Google is defending its stance on keeping the images for the year-long period. A lawyer for the company, Peter Fleischer, responded, “The need to retain the unblurred images is legitimate and justified — to ensure the quality and accuracy of our maps, to improve our ability to rectify mistakes in blurring, as well as to use the data we have collected to build better maps products for our users. We have publicly committed to a retention period of 12 months from the date on which images are published on Street View, and this is the period which we will continue to meet globally.”
In other words, we’re not quite sure yet how this one will turn out. We’ll keep an eye on this space, which we’re tempted to refer to as “Google Street Fight.” Do you think the EU is making a reasonable request in the service of data protection and privacy, or should Google continue to hold its ground?
Reviews: Google
Tags: eu, Google, google street view, privacy, street view, uk
EU launches preliminary antitrust probe against Google
Now that Microsoft’s browser selection story is all but settled, it looks like the European Union is gearing up for a new antitrust probe, with its crosshairs aimed generally in Google’s direction. According to the search giant’s Senior Competition Counsel Julia Holtz (via its European Public Policy Blog), complaints from three European internet companies — legal search group EJustice.fr, price comparison site Foundem.co.uk, and German-based Microsoft subsidiary Ciao.de — have prompted the European Commission to launch a preliminary, fact-finding probe. The charges? Anticompetitive practices stemming from unfair downranking of its competitors in search results. Google denies any wrongdoing, while adding ,”we are also the first to admit that our search is not perfect, but it’s a very hard computer science problem to crack.” The Microsoft connection seems particularly notable to Google; Holtz reiterates that the company had a good relationship with Ciao until the Redmond company picked it up in 2008 — “we started receiving complaints about our standard terms and conditions.” Like we said, at this point it’s just a fact-finding probe that could end up going nowhere, but seriously, Google’s lawyers cannot seem to get a break these days.
EU launches preliminary antitrust probe against Google originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Europeans Get a Taste of the Browser Choice Screen
It might seem like a minor thing, but it isn’t.
Microsoft has been fined billions over browser choice (or lack thereof) in Windows, and the solution that finally satisfied EU regulators was a browser choice screen, which would let users choose a web browser rather then having Internet Explorer installed as the default.
Now, Microsoft has posted images of what the browser choice screen will probably look like.
Here’s how it will work: The user will be presented with five major browsers, randomly ordered. He will also be able to choose several additional browsers, which are also randomly ordered. Once you install a browser, you’ll get a shortcut of that browser on your desktop, while Internet Explorer will be unpinned from the taskbar.
Since Windows 7 has been available on the European market for quite a while now, one may ask why (and how) is this happening so late? Since Microsoft needed some time to implement the browser choice solution, it will now use Windows Update to provide the browser choice screen to European users who are using Internet Explorer as their default browser. Better late than never, huh?
More precisely, testing of the browser choice screen begins next week in the UK, Belgium and France, where users will be able to download the software update from Windows Update if they like. A phased rollout of the update will happen across Europe starting with March 1.
Reviews: Internet Explorer, Windows
Tags: browser choice, eu, microsoft, web browser
EU Drops Browser Antitrust Case Against Microsoft
At the beginning of 2009, the European regulators filed a complaint against Microsoft’s browser policy, claiming that bundling Internet Explorer with Windows is unfair to developers of third-party web browsers such as Firefox and Opera.
Having had paid enormous fines for similar issues with the EU before, Microsoft took the antitrust charges very seriously, proposing a solution that would enable users to choose between several web browsers before they start using the OS.
It worked. European regulators dropped their antitrust case against Microsoft today. Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide Windows users with a choice of up to 12 browsers that aren’t Internet Explorer.
European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said “millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use.”
Kroes is right; for Windows users in Europe, this agreement simply means more choice, which is always a good thing. It also means that someone, somewhere, is making sure monopolies such as the one Microsoft has in the OS world aren’t abused at the users’ expense.
Reviews: Internet Explorer
EU settles affairs with Microsoft, no fines this time
Momentous moment alert — the EU has just closed the book on its lengthy investigation into potential Microsoft antitrust violations. Lasting through nearly the entire noughties, The European Commission’s dissatisfaction with what it perceived as monopolistic practices from Redmond has resulted in some hefty fines over the years, but the conclusion to hostilities has been pleasingly amicable. In exchange for Microsoft’s legally binding promise to offer up to 12 other browsers alongside its own, the European executive will give the company a clean bill of competition-friendly health. All this means is that the ballot screen will be around on Windows operating systems for at least the next five years (starting in mid-March 2010), which should give the EU plenty of time to think up the next batch of allegations to throw Microsoft’s way.
EU settles affairs with Microsoft, no fines this time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Microsoft reportedly randomizing browser ballots to appease EU, asks ‘are you happy now?’
Some might say that Microsoft just can’t catch a break. Others might argue that it’s getting exactly what it deserves. Whatever your take on the situation, it seems as if Microsoft may finally have the EU off of its monstrous back (at least momentarily), as a report has surfaced noting that said software giant is nearing approval for a new browser ballot screen demanded by the European Commission. As you well know by know, rivals Mozilla, Opera and Google all submitted change requests to EU regulators in hopes of having browser selection boxes randomized and not displayed within Internet Explorer. Purportedly, the all-clear will come down on December 15th (or earlier), and the antitrust case will be settled as Windows customers have a clearer choice when it comes to selecting a go-to browser from day one. ‘Course, said ballot screen wouldn’t be pushed out to existing users until early next year, but when it goes live users will be able to decide between Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari for their browsing needs. Huzzah!
Microsoft reportedly randomizing browser ballots to appease EU, asks ‘are you happy now?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
EU closes antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, doesn’t levy fines
Qualcomm has spent an awful lot of time over the past few years dealing with lawsuits and nastygrams, but it looks as if things will be totally different in the new decade. Just months after Qualcomm and Broadcom settled their differences, the European Commission has agreed to drop a four-year antitrust investigation without levying the first fine or absolving the company. The reason? The entity stated that “companies that objected to Qualcomm’s pricing for its technology have all withdrawn their complaints or are planning to withdraw them.” Sounds like a reasonable reason to let bygones be bygones, no?
EU closes antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, doesn’t levy fines originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.