Google Scientist Warns EU Data Sharing Proposal Poses Privacy Risk
- tech360.tv
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
A top Google scientist sent a warning to EU antitrust regulators on Tuesday that its proposal requiring the company to share search engine data with rivals such as OpenAI risked exposing users' private information. This marks the strongest criticism yet in the ongoing dispute over Google's business model.
Sergei Vassilvitskii, a distinguished scientist at Google since 2012, stated concerns that the European Commission's proposed method for anonymising personal data may not be robust enough. Modern artificial intelligence tools could potentially sift through the data to identify individuals.
Mr. Vassilvitskii will meet EU antitrust officials on Wednesday to present his concerns and suggest a broader approach with better guardrails. Google views the EU proposal as regulatory overreach, arguing it could jeopardise users' privacy and security.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU's competition enforcer, has recently intensified its efforts to regulate Big Tech through various legislation. These measures aim to offer users more choices and create opportunities for smaller rivals.
The Commission had outlined a series of steps a month prior, detailing how Google should allow rival search engines access to data such as ranking, query, click, and view information on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The EU proposal will be finalised in the coming weeks after considering feedback from interested parties.
Mr. Vassilvitskii stated, "We are concerned because the EC's approach to anonymization fails to protect Europeans' privacy: our red team managed to re-identify users in less than two hours." Google's AI red team is a group of hackers which simulate a variety of realistic adversary activities to highlight potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses and come up with fixes.
He added, "We are eager to share our technical expertise and work with the EC to establish the right guardrails and protect Europeans from privacy harm." Regulators are expected to decide on the exact measures Google must implement by July 27.
Failure to comply with these measures could lead to Google being charged with breaching the Digital Markets Act. Penalties could include a fine as much as 10% of the company's global annual revenue.
A Google scientist warns the EU's data-sharing proposal could expose user privacy.
Sergei Vassilvitskii suggests the anonymisation method is insufficient.
Google's AI red team reportedly re-identified users from anonymised data in under two hours.
Source: REUTERS
