Google’s admission that it breached its own privacy policies when signing up Gmail users to its Buzz social network couldn’t have been better timed for UK communications minister Ed Vaizey, who just days earlier had issued a rallying call to Europe and the US for a combined effort on e-privacy.

 

The search giant settled a complaint by the US Federal Trade Commission over the Buzz debacle, which included breaching a voluntary safe harbor agreement covering the use of personal data from European citizens in the US.

 

That framework is jointly managed by the US Department of Commerce and European Commission, and is an example of the type of collaboration Vaizey believes is essential for the future safety of citizens online as the EC considers changes to its decade-old Data Protection Directive.

 

Vaizey told a CBI e-privacy forum in London that the EC and US are already examining current rules for online data protection, which presents a unique opportunity to develop cohesive policy between the two.

 

“For the sake of web users and businesses, we need a unified and consistent approach to online privacy that crosses borders,” Vaizey notes. “Creating an international standard for online privacy will ensure businesses compete on a level playing field, while web users enjoy the same protections wherever a website is based.”

 

The US “consumer privacy bill of rights,” will be similar to existing European data protection rules and e-Privacy directive, which is currently under review with results due late May.

 

However, the UK minister is painfully aware of the mountain that must be climbed to implement a cohesive policy across borders. The latest e-Privacy directive, for example, changes the way cookies are implemented in web browsers to give consumers more control over whether to accept the short scripts that record their preferences on websites.