EU Delays a Decision on Google Data Policy Briefing: BRUSSELS

Jun 21, 12:05 PM

Current Headlines: Google will have to wait at least until July to find out whether it must further cut the time it stores personal information from its users' online searches, the European Union data protection agency said Wednesday. The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party warned Google in a letter on May 16 that keeping personal records for as long as two years may be too much. Google subsequently said it would cut the time it kept search records to 18 months from 24 months. The agency had been scheduled to study Google's response Tuesday but decided instead to refer the matter to one of its subgroups.

The agency will urge its Internet Task Force to also look at privacy policies at other search engine companies, such as Microsoft and Yahoo, Alexander Dix, a German member of the data protection agency, said.

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