New Zealand expresses privacy concerns to Google

WELLINGTON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Privacy Commissioner has joined her counterparts from around the world in expressing concerns to web giant Google over its data and privacy protection, New Zealand media reported on Wednesday.

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff, along with representatives from Germany, Canada, France, Britain, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Spain and the Netherlands, signed a letter to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, raising concerns over Google' s new application, Google Buzz.

The social networking service connected to Google's email service, Gmail, raising concerns from users over how their personal information was being disclosed, the New Zealand Press Association reported.

Google automatically assigned users a network of "followers" from the people they corresponded with the most, without telling them how the service would work or "providing sufficient information to permit informed consent decisions", the letter said.

"This violated the fundamental principle that individuals should be able to control the use of their personal information," it added.

Google Street View, which offered Google Map users panoramic street views through streets across the globe, was also launched without "due consideration of privacy and data protection laws and cultural norms", the letter said.

Shroff said New Zealanders had been experimented on by Google with the rollout of Google Buzz.

It had "violated the fundamental, globally accepted principle that people should be able to control the use of their personal information".

New Zealand was a founding member of the newly established Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), created to promote collective global action on data protection and privacy, Shroff said.

The letter also made recommendations for enhancing privacy protections and asked Google to explain how it would comply with national privacy laws in the future.