UK Watchdog Tells Google To Change Privacy Policy Or Face Legal Action

The U.K. Friday became the latest European country to tell Google Inc. (GOOG) to change its privacy policy or face legal action, as the technology giant continues to face heightened pressure from regulators over alleged violations of data-privacy rules.

The Information Commissioner's Office, the U.K.'s privacy watchdog, said it has serious doubts about whether Google's privacy policy complies with the U.K. Data Protection Act.

"In particular, we believe that the updated policy does not provide sufficient information to enable U.K. users of Google's services to understand how their data will be used across all of the company's products," the ICO said.

Google must alter its privacy policy to make more informative for Google users by Sept. 20, or face legal action, the watchdog said.

Google was not immediately available for comment.

The privacy issues stem back to early 2012, when Google said it would change its privacy policy for its various services--such as Gmail and YouTube--to allow them to share data.

The U.K. is working alongside other European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, to question how Google handles the huge amounts of personal data it collects from users.

France's privacy watchdog, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes, said last month that it has ordered Google to comply with a series of specific privacy requirements within three months or face fines.

In Spain, the Madrid-based Agency for Data Protection said it has opened sanction proceedings against Google looking into what it called "disproportionate treatment of users' data" by the U.S. company, saying it doesn't provide users with clear enough information on the matter.

In Germany, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection said it would open a formal administrative procedure against Google.