Google loses challenge to German regulator on privacy

Google has lost most of a challenge to a German regulator’s order that limits how it can combine user data that would allow the company to divine customers’ personal preferences, marital status and sexual orientation.

Johannes Caspar, Hamburg’s privacy watchdog, only heeded minor parts of Google’s objection to an order issued in September, he said in an interview yesterday. The company is obligated to either limit how it uses German customer data or get user consent, he said.

“It would certainly be the best solution if Google would now implement the order”, said Caspar, who is among the region’s more aggressive privacy regulators. Google, Facebook and other technology companies are under increasing pressure from regulators to ensure that privacy rights are respected as computer users unwittingly reveal more data online through shopping, social networking and web searches.