Jealous E.U. Warns Google on Data Retention Policy

European Union has issued a warning letter to Google requesting Google to justify its policy of retaining data on Internet addresses and individual search habits for up to two years as this policy might be violating European Union privacy laws. The letter was sent out by an advisory panel of data-protection chiefs from the 27 countries in the European Union.

The emergence of Google in the internet industry has undoubtedly provoked the envy and suspicion of European industrial players. European policy makers have implemented a series of aggressive action to rein in global technology companies. The advisory panel is concerned that Google’s retention period is too long and is intended to serve commercial interests. The data is often used to direct advertising to users. Google claimed that it has shortened the retention of customer data which had previously been unlimited, to up to two years. Other large search engines like Yahoo and MSN Search have not disclosed how long they keep data.