French data protection authority CNIL has scheduled a meeting with Google to more closely examine changes to the company's privacy policy, BBC News reports. The company consolidated its 60 privacy policies into one in March, prompting the CNIL to ask questions on the legality of the move and on how user data would be shared. The CNIL says it was not satisfied with the company's answers and wants to "untangle the precise way that specific personal data is being used for individual services and examine what the benefit for the consumer really is," said CNIL's president.
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CNET News reports on what going public means for the privacy of Facebook's users. The Center for Democracy & Technology's Justin Brookman said the company's focus on revenue leaves user privacy uncertain. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's Chris Conley said, "The fact that they're going public and going to be a public company could enforce trust," or they risk losing revenue. Sarah A. Downey, an online privacy analyst at Abine, says users' expectations have changed. "The assumption in 2004 was that people wanted to be private and would set things to public," she said. "Now, Facebook assumes that all activity will be public."
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The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has decided that it will not accept terms of reference about a data retention plan proposed by Attorney General Nicola Roxon, ZDNet Australia reports. In a statement, the committee said it is “considering related issues before formally deciding to commence the inquiry.” According to the report, committee officials may meet with intelligence representatives to think about possibly widening the scope of the potential inquiry.
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Law enforcement authorities in Victoria are considering the use of unmanned drone surveillance, and the Australian Federal Police have expressed interest in the technology as well, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. The president of Liberty Victoria warned that the aircraft could potentially increase surveillance on political protests and private activities. A representative from the Association for Unmanned Aerial Systems Australia said privacy-intruding technology already exists, adding, “This sort of activity has been going on for years.”
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