TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has joined attorneys general from 30 other states and five U.S. territories in asking Google to change its controversial new privacy policy to better protect the personal data of its users. The attorney general group told Google CEO Larry Page they have several concerns with the new privacy policy. The new policy forces consumers to allow private information to be shared among Google’s services including YouTube, G-Mail and Google Maps. Schmidt and his colleagues say that given Google’s dominant presence on-line and with Android Smartphones, most users can’t switch to another service. In addition, many government and educational institutions have begun using Google services, and the new policy poses problems in protecting the security of government information. Schmidt said the group requests that Google allow users to opt-in to the new privacy policy and decide for themselves how they want their data shared among Google’s services.
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 3 p.m.
