Log in to your IBTimes Account

close
ID
Password
  • Set your IBTimes.com Edition

EU and Google Dispute Over IP Address: Personal or Not



By Isabel Goncalves
21 January 2008 @ 09:29 pm ET

NEW YORK - The European Union's data privacy regulators contradicted Google Inc. views on IP addresses and said they should be regarded as personal information, according to reports Monday.

Related Topic

Get stories by e-mail on this topic.

E-mail:

The head of the EU group, Peter Scharr, reported on the extent that privacy policies of search engines need to comply with EU privacy law, according to Associated Press. IP addresses, a string of numbers that identify computers on the Internet, should generally be regarded as personal information by search engines including Google Inc., Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc.

During his speech at the European Parliament hearing on online data protection, Scharr said that when someone is identified by an IP, or Internet protocol, address "then it has to be regarded as personal data."

Google disagrees with the report, insisting an IP address only identifies the location of a computer, and not the individual user may be. Scharr went on to say that IP addresses for a computer may not always be personal or linked to an individual. He acknowledges that computers in Internet cafes or offices are used by several people, making it hard to retrievepersonal data from the user.

Google says it uses stored search queries and online activity history to better enhance search results and give advertisers accurate billing information.

The hearing where Scharr spoke before the European Parliament was spurred by the ongoing review by EU authorities of possible antitrust implications in Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick.

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times.

    Click!
  • Rate this article:

Comments
1.
Jan 22, 2008 12:21am

I am a landscaper for a wealthy gentleman in Orange County California. He has 5 acres and a large house with several fine cars. He told me he made most of his money investing in stocks. A couple of weeks ago he told me he thought the stock market was going to suffer a big loss. He said he sold most of his stocks except one company AVASOFT (AVAF) I have a small retirement account and took his advice with AVASOFT and have done pretty well over the past couple of weeks. Eddie Gonzolas Orange County, California

Post Your Comment

*Name


advertisement
More Industries
China's ambitious plan to increase wind power capacity could attract up to $150 billion in investment, but Beijing will have to get serious about revampi...
Top oil and gas firm PetroChina raised daily output at its largest Sulige gasfield, in northern China's Ordos Basin, to 25.6 million cubic metres, up 67 ...
Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn said Europe's largest auto maker sold 6 percent more cars and transporters in June than in the same month a ...

Advertisement
Option Trading Was Never So Easy

Come and experience the trading platform that everyone talks about. Simple, fast and exciting.

Forex trading is too complicated?

Can predict currency pairs movements? Binary option trading is what you need. Click here.

Press Release Distribution - IBwire

Effective and Affordable Press Release Distribution Service

advertisement
 
IBTimes.com Web
Partners
International Business Times© 2009 The Ibtimes Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms of service | Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us | Contact Us | Archives