Search Engine Optimization News Blog

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing today about online ad privacy, and it was entertaining to see what representatives of Microsoft, Google and Facebook had to say.

“Microsoft has a deep and long-standing commitment to consumer privacy,” stated Michael Hintze. “Microsoft was one of the first companies to appoint a chief privacy officer, an action we took nearly a decade ago, and we currently employ over 40 employees who focus on privacy full-time, and another 400 who focus on it as part of their jobs. We have a robust set of internal policies and standards that guide how we do business and how we design our products and services in a way that respects and protects user privacy.”

Nice, but interesting in that Mike Hintze isn’t a privacy officer for Microsoft himself - he’s an Associate General Counsel of Microsoft Corporation. Guess Microsoft figured they’ve had no recent scandal, so they didn’t see the need to send the real specialists? Seemed kind of like when the good child points out that they haven’t broken any rules lately…

Jane Horvath, Google’s Senior Privacy Counsel was present, however, and after a feel good run down of how Google helps struggling small businesses and youthful entrepreneurs, she snuck in a quick note concerning YouTube:

“At Google we take great pride in our effort to provide our users with a better understanding of how we collect, use, and protect their data through a series of short videos available at Google.com and on YouTube, as well as through blog posts. Too often, web site operators view their online privacy policy – which is typically impenetrable to the average user – as the beginning and end of their privacy obligations. Web companies that interact with individuals need to do more than simply provide and link to privacy policies; we need to offer consumer-friendly materials in different media to better help their users understand how their information is collected and used, and what choices they have to protect their privacy.”

Excuse me? Is this damage control? Google is ‘voluntarily’ turning over user logs for YouTube to Viacom without so much as a notification, and this sounds suspiciously like a ‘we don’t care’ to me.

Facebook also sent their Chief Privacy officer, Chris Kelly, to address their own privacy issues- last year Facebook users went up in arms over the ‘Beacon’ ads, which divulged what products friends were purchasing. His address reiterated Facebook’s stance that “users know when they are supplying information” and “advertising generally benefits users….and leads to a better online experience.” Sure thing, Chris, you know how we all love that advertising!

Interestingly enough, nobody asked for anything from Yahoo - I guess they figured if Google showed up Yahoo would be redundant?