Google gets questioned by the EU about data storage

A European Union committee is questioning how Google Inc. manages and stores the personal data it collects from consumers who use the company's popular search engine.

The inquiry, confirmed in a letter sent to Google, concerns the massive amount of information the powerful Mountain View business gathers about its users, and what could be done with it.

Google handled nearly 3.8 million queries in April in the United States, or about 55 percent of all search traffic, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. For each search, it records data such as the query, the location of the computer and the date and time. The EU's concern stems from Google's decision in March to keep that data, but to "anonymize" it -- for instance, deleting eight digits from the computer's network address -- after 18 to 24 months.

Google said Friday that it plans to respond to the EU letter before the committee's next meeting, in June. It said it uses the records to help protect users from fraud and abuse, as well as to improve its services, such as its spell-check feature for search queries. It added that it made the decision to make queries anonymous after a time following discussions with privacy advocates in the United States and Europe.

"We're the only leading search company to have taken this step publicly," Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said in a statement. "We are committed to engaging in a constructive dialogue with privacy stakeholders on how to improve privacy practices for the benefit of Google users and for everyone on the Internet."

But privacy advocates worry that the information could be abused or land in inappropriate hands.

They are also troubled by Google's planned $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick, announced last month. Three U.S. privacy groups filed a complaint with federal regulators to block the merger, citing concerns that the union could create an even greater storehouse of personal consumer data. They have also worked with their counterparts across the Atlantic to lobby the European Commission.

"It's critical that regulators impose safeguards," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one the groups that filed the complaint. "The deal is about making Google the most powerful new media company on the planet, giving them a treasure-house of data about users all across the globe."

Todd Greenwald, a senior analyst at Nollenberger Capital Partners, however, said he doubted the EU's move could have much of an impact on Google. "I think people know that they're trading a little bit of privacy for a free service," he said.

But with consumers tapping into Google's widening array of services -- from e-mail to blogs to videos -- the threat to consumers increases, said Danny O'Brien, a spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"People are becoming more sensitive of the data these big companies are holding and how little control (they have) of their personal information," he said.

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