I can’t stress enough how important it is for technology companies operating overseas to be mindful of the dizzying array of compliance laws that apply.
Some companies just don’t seem to get it.
I bring this up because the Washington Post is reporting that Google faces at least 10 lawsuits in the United Kingdom over violation of the UK’s stringent privacy protection laws.
According to the lawsuits, Google secretly tracked of the Internet browsing habits of its users with tracking codes known as “cookies.”
Google found itself in trouble last year after it was discovered that the company had deactivated privacy features on Apple’s Safari web browsers to install cookies on millions of users’ computers.
The issue has already cost Google $22.5 million, which it agreed to pay the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to settle the claims last year.
I wrote about the emerging dangers that U.S. companies face abroad in the article 5 Key International Compliance Challenges Facing U.S. Companies.
As I wrote, one of the top 5 challenges facing U.S. companies overseas is complying with foreign technology compliance laws.
This is particularly true in Europe, which has one of the world’s most stringent privacy protection regimes.
Why a multi-billion company like Google continues to run into trouble for violating foreign privacy protection laws is beyond me.
Or maybe its just a calculated business risk.
What do you think?