European Union tells Google combining user data across services without opt-out is illegal

Google has come under fire from European Union officials on a number of fronts already. It’s been accused of unfair search results, been criticized for the way it has implemented the controversial ‘right to be forgotten‘ ruling and asked to stop describing apps which offer in-app purchases as ‘free.’

Reuters now reports that the EU believes Google is breaking the law in combining user data across unrelated services like Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps without offering users an opt-out, and the way in which it has consolidated 60 separate privacy policies into one … 

European data privacy regulators on Thursday handed Google a package of guidelines to help it bring the way it collects and stores user data in line with EU law after six regulators opened investigations into the internet giant.

The group of European data protection authorities, known as the Article 29 Working Party, sent Google a list of measures it could implement, such as spelling out clearly for what purposes it collects user data and what third party entities would also be able to collect people’s information.

The move follows separate investigations in six European countries: Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. Google said that it was open to feedback and looked forward to discussing the guidelines.

The company also yesterday responded to an open letter to the EU from News Corp, denying claims that it was “a platform for piracy.”