EU data authorities threaten to fine Google

European data protection authorities have for the first time threatened to fine Google, if the Silicon Valley company does not address their privacy concerns within three months. The co-ordinated move by regulators in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands could result in Google having to pay several million euros, under proposed new rules.

“Time is running out for Google to get serious about data protection,” said Viviane Reding, the EU’s top justice official in charge of bolstering the bloc’s data protection rules. The decision to threaten Google with sanctions comes eight months after a probe led by EU regulators concluded that the US internet company failed properly to disclose how it was using its users’ personal data across multiple platforms. It also comes amid growing concern about the extent to which both governments and private companies collect and exploit people’s personal data on a vast scale.