Google to respond to EU queries over data storage

Google, the leader in internet search, is facing a European Committee challenge over privacy rights. The European Union Committee has asked Google Inc to disclose how it manages and stores the personal data of customers who use its search engine feature everyday.

The European Union has sent a letter to the Mountain View firm asking what it does about the data gathered from the users and how it manages and stores the enormous amount of data. In the month of April alone, Google gathered almost 3.8 million queries from customers. Google in turn saves the query, location of the PC from where the query originated, date and time. Google planned to store all these information, but also planned to anonymize it. It is expected that this move by Google forced the European Union make its move.

Google is planning to answer the queries from the European Union before the committee's next meeting, which will take place in June 2007. Google said that it keeps the users data to protect its users from fraud and abuse and also to improve the services offered.

Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said in a statement, "We're the only leading search company to have taken this step publicly. 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 consumer groups all across the North America are worried that the information being gathered by Google could be misused or could land in the wrong hands. As more and more customers flock to Google's wide array of services, the threat to customers increases highly, they say.