Last week privacy commissioners in 10 countries released a public letter to Google about their problems with the release of Buzz (Google has made significant changes to Buzz in the privacy area since its release). In a commentary in the Toronto Star, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist wrote that “the joint effort may represent a major step toward the globalization of privacy enforcement … one based on greater cooperation and mutual recognition of common privacy principles.” Not necessarily without teeth, however. Geist adds: “As privacy and data protection commissioners work together on issues with a global impact, they create a new layer of enforcement that could lead to joint investigations and parallel enforcement actions.” Is this a sign of the new kind of multi-party social contract (or world order?) I referred to in my last post?
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