In March 2012, Google changed its privacy policies to combine
the data of individual users of 60 internet services such as
YouTube, Gmail and social network Google+. Users were not provided
with an opportunity to "opt out" of this process. Google
pools anonymous user data, so that keywords from the pool can be
used to automatically generate targeted advertisements (relating to
products of third parties) to Google users. The bigger the data
pool, the better is Google's ability to sell online
advertisements.
The European data regulators have objected to these changes and
have taken the position that this bundling of data constitutes a
potential high risk to individuals' privacy. In October 2012,
officials representing 24 countries in Europe directed Google to
comply with European data protection laws, which give users greater
control over their personal information. The French Data Protection
Commissioner, Commission nationale de l'informatique et des
libertés (CNIL),
