Technology

It seems that Google has gotten itself in trouble with a UK civil liberties group. Privacy International stated that Google tried to discredit a report that showed the company to be below Microsoft and Apple. Google also allegedly labeled the group as “hostile to privacy”. “Your representative, or representatives, made particular reference to one member of our 70-member international advisory board. This man is a current employee of Microsoft,” said the Privacy International director, Simon Davies.

“To infer that he in any way influences our decisions with regard to Microsoft is not just inaccurate but it is also insulting,” added Mr Davies, who said that an apology from the search firm is “in order”. Google did not respond today to requests for comment. It is understood that the complaint revolves around Caspar Bowden, Microsoft’s chief privacy advisor and a member of the Privacy International advisory board. Before joining Microsoft he was director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research.

Last week’s report, titled “A race to the bottom, privacy ranking of internet service companies”, analysed 23 companies and organisations. It claimed that many had a “wilful or mindless disregard” for the privacy rights of their users. Marks were awarded according to 20 criteria including how willing companies were to allow customers to delete their accounts, their privacy policies, the level of information they collected about users and the length of time they retained it.

Apple was named a “substantial threat to privacy” because it operates a “vague” privacy policy and has sued bloggers who broke stories about upcoming product launches. Microsoft was accused of “serious lapses”, because, despite operating a wide range of services, it has a basic privacy policy. But only Google was accused of “comprehensive customer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy”.

Google, which was praised last year for refusing to hand over search data to the US government, last week defended its approach. “We are disappointed with Privacy International’s report which is based on numerous inaccuracies and misunderstandings about our services,” said Nicole Wong, associate general counsel, in a statement. “We stand by our record for protecting user privacy and offering products that are transparent about what information is collected and empower users to control their personal information,” Ms Wong added.