EU urges Google to delay start of new privacy policy

BRUSSELS - The European Union's data protection authorities have asked Google to delay the rollout of its new privacy policy until they have verified that it doesn't break the bloc's laws.

Google publicized its new privacy rules - which regulate how the Web giant uses the enormous amounts of personal data it collects through its search engine, e-mail and other services - with much fanfare last week.

Since then, it has launched a huge publicity campaign informing its users around the globe of the new policy, which is set to come into force on March 1.

But that launch date may now be under threat.

In a letter to Google chief executive Larry Page, Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the group of 27 national privacy regulators in the EU, said the French data protection agency has started a probe of the new rules and how they will affect Google users.

"We call for a pause [in the rollout of the new rules] in the interests of ensuring that there can be no misunderstanding about Google's commitments to information rights of their users and EU citizens, until we have completed our analysis," Kohnstamm wrote in the letter.

Google's search engine has a market share of more than 90 percent in the EU, with rival services like Microsoft's Bing gaining little traction. The EU's competition authorities are already examining whether Google uses this dominance to stop other search engines from entering the market.

The new policy makes it easier for Google to combine the data of one person using different services such as the search engine, YouTube or Gmail if he is logged into his Google account. That allows Google to create a broader profile of that user and thus target advertising based on that person's interests and search history more accurately. Advertising is the main way Google makes its money.