Linux News: Law: German Court Mandates Google's Voluntary ToS Changes

German Court Mandates Google's Voluntary ToS Changes

By Patrick McGroarty
AP
09/01/09 9:21 AM PT

Google already had removed 10 controversial clauses in its terms of service when a German court ruling made the requirement to do so official. The terms may have been interpreted to give Google the right to snoop on or delete user information, although Google said that no such activities were ever carried out. "The data users give to us belongs to the user," said Google spokesperson Stefan Keuchel.

A German court has ruled that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) must change terms of service that could be interpreted to compromise a user's rights, a decision the consumer advocacy group that brought the suit welcomed Monday as a victory for online transparency.

The suit filed by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations charged that the terms of service for opening an account through Google Mail, Google Documents and other programs could be interpreted as giving the Internet search giant the right to review and even delete a user's information.

Data Belongs to Users

"[Google's terms] included, in our view, several rules that could disadvantage the consumer," said Heike Heidemann-Peuser, a spokesperson for the consumer federation.

The district court in Hamburg agreed, ruling that Google must eliminate 10 clauses that could be interpreted to compromise users' rights to their own data from the terms of service as presented by the federation.

Google said in a statement that it removed the clauses, which it described "unfortunately framed," more than a year ago.

Google spokesperson Stefan Keuchel said the terms had already been changed when the court released its decision to clarify that users agree to allow data they upload to be viewed and manipulated only by other users they have explicitly authorized -- for instance, through a shared Google document.

"At no point were we allowed to look at private documents, edit them, delete them," Keuchel said. "The data users give to us belongs to the user."

Deleting Photo Footage

Keuchel said Google is reviewing its terms for German customers to see if further changes are necessary to comply with the ruling.

In June, Google complied with a request from German data protection officials that it erase some photos taken for its panoramic mapping service after they were processed.

Google agreed to delete raw footage of faces, house numbers, license plates and individuals in Germany who have told authorities they do not want their information used in Google Street View.

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