Google Map App's Version of Anonymity Might Violate EU Privacy Laws

[wraggster]

Ars Technica reports that Google's map application for iOS, however popular it might be with users, raises red flags with European regulators, who maintain that it by default does not sufficiently safeguard user privacy (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/google-maps-for-ios-may-violate-european-data-protection-law/) as required by EU privacy rules. Ars quotes Marit Hansen of Germany's Independent Centre for Privacy Protection on why: "Hansen's main gripe is that Google's use of 'anonymous' is misleading. 'All available information points to having linkable identifiers per user," she told Computerworld. Hansen added this would allow Google to track several location entries, thus leading to her assumption that Google's 'anonymous location data' would be considered 'personal data' under the European law."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/12/16/1645224/google-map-apps-version-of-anonymity-might-violate-eu-privacy-laws