Lawmaker questions Google over privacy practices

Rep Joe Barton (R-TX), the top Republican on the House of Representatives Commerce Committee, asked Google chief executive Eric Schmidt on Wednesday to detail the search engine's privacy practices since it acquired rival DoubleClick. "It is critical that Google's and DoubleClick's policies and procedures for handling this information be transparent, and that every effort is made to protect consumers' data," Rep Barton wrote in a letter to the company dated May 21. In the letter, Rep Barton asked if and how data collected by Google and DoubleClick about computer users would be merged and how the data would be used, and if Google planned to continue allowing users to opt out of ad-serving cookies. Privacy advocates have expressed concern that a wave of consolidation in online advertising would lead to a concentration of personal information in the hands of a few powerful companies.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2142539620080521