The world’s most popular website analytical tool, Google Analytics, could soon be illegal in Germany, raising fears that Brussels mandarins might follow suit.
German government officials are reportedly trying to put a ban on Google Analytics and are planning to impose a fines of up to €50,000 on websites who use Google Analytics to collate their users data.
Privacy protection officials are concerned that Google is collecting the full IP addresses of users, even those who request anonymity and are moving private information of individuals, such as bank and insurance details, to the US which is a strict violation of Germany’s privacy laws.
Moving such sensitive information out of the country has not gone down well with the German authorities who had earlier expressed their concern over personal data of users being moved away from the country and stored on US servers.
Johannes Caspar, commissioner for data protection in Hamburg told a local newspaper earlier this week: “We must clearly say: What Google offers is not enough”.
The commissioner fears that by storing private data of individuals, Google would be able to track an individual’s movement all over the Web and gather information from websites that hold their personal data like personal interests, career, lifestyle, wealth, health, political and other preferences. This will give Google a chance to create a profile based on this data and match it with a profile of a known user.
Observers say the European Commission is likely to be keeping a close eye on developments in Germany, especially as Google is already under investigation over monopolistic claims.
Google says it has complied to both Germany’s and EU privacy standards since the first version of Google Analytics was made available. It added that discussions with the German authorities were ongoing and the company says it is still strongly working to address their concerns.
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