Google lifted some of its restrictions for on-line users in Iran on 21 January. Google unblocked access to Google Chrome, Google Earth and Picasa, previously US trade sanctions had prevented Iranian users from accessing the site. The restrictions are still in place for users linked to the Iranian government.
Google and the Information Commissioner’s Office have displayed contempt for privacy — and free speech will suffer as a result, says Alex Deane of Big Brother Watch
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After being blocked for two years YouTube can now be accessed again by Turkish citizens. The Google-owned site was originally banned in May 2008 under a 2007 law that allowed courts to block any website where there was “sufficient suspicion” that it had committed a crime. YouTube was accused of hosting videos that insulted the country’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, an offence in Turkey. The minister in charge of internet issues, Binali Yildirim, has said that the offending videos have been removed.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Britain’s privacy watchdog, has reopened its investigation into Google Street View after the company admitted it copied personal data. Google is facing similar pressures from privacy watchdogs in other countries, including Spain, Germany, and Canada. In May, the ICO had investigated revelations that Google had gathered unprotected information but it concluded that no “significant” personal details had been collected. The renewed scrutiny stems from Google’s admission, following analysis by other privacy bodies, that they had harvested more information than previously thought.