Google, defenders of privacy

TechCrunch reports that Google is shutting down its German version of GMail due to new, invasive laws that would require it to maintain detailed records on users:

Google’s Peter Fleischer said that the law is odds to Google’s policy to offer anonymous email accounts: “Many users around the globe make use of this anonymity to defend themselves from spam, or government repression of free speech … If the web community won’t trust us with handling their data with great care, we’ll go down in no time”.

There’s got to be something ironic about a country in the European Union, the EU being the so-called champions of privacy, imposing laws like this. Perhaps our German readers can enlighten us some more in the comments.

Yes, and there's also something ironic about Google standing tall against the German government after collaborating with the Chinese government to identify dissidents.

Google May Shut Germans Out Of GMail

technorati tags:gmail, google, privacy

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