EPIC sues FTC over Google privacy plan – Computerworld

IDG News Service – The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, asking a court to force the agency to take action against Google over planned changes in the company’s collection of personal data.

EPIC, in briefs filed Wednesday, asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to require the FTC to enforce a 2011 privacy agreement between the agency and Google over the company’s fumbled rollout of its Buzz social networking service.

Google’s January announcement that it would consolidate user data over 60 of its services is a “clear violation” of that privacy agreement, EPIC said in court papers. Google has announced it will roll out the changes to its terms of service on March 1.

The FTC has not acted to block Google from making the changes, “placing the privacy interests of literally hundreds of millions of Internet users at grave risk,” EPIC’s lawyers wrote in court papers. “The FTC is required to enforce the consent order. But the commission has failed to do so.”