Google accused of gaining sensitive consumer data via secret formula

Washington

A PROMINENT privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate a new Google advertising programme that ties consumers' online behaviour to their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores.

The legal complaint from Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic), to be filed with the FTC on Monday, alleges that Google is newly gaining access to a trove of highly-sensitive information - credit- and debit-card purchase records of the majority of US consumers - without revealing how they got the information or giving consumers' meaningful ways to opt out. Moreover, the group claims that the search giant is relying on a secretive technical method to protect the data - a method that should be audited by outsiders and is likely vulnerable to hacks or other data breaches.