Google says privacy key as NZ Identity Check system planned

Google says privacy key as NZ Identity Check system planned

According to Google, international efforts are being made to address a lack of “legal certainty” around the transfer of personal data and privacy.

The government is implementing a nationwide online identity check system for New Zealand while using Google Analytics.

In the aftermath of the failure of a transatlantic program dubbed Privacy Shield, Google Analytics has come under fire from European regulators who are not confident that it secures people’s data transported to the US for processing.

According to Google, “data transfers between the EU and US do lack legal stability,” as stated by RNZ.

It claimed that EU-US data transfer restrictions, not Google Analytics, were the main concern.

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It claimed that this was being addressed and cited US President Joe Biden’s approval of improvements.

The White House stated that this was done in order to “reestablish a crucial legal underpinning for transatlantic data flows,” which support $7 trillion in annual trade.

In the face of the data behemoths, New Zealand is determined to maintain its allegiance to the Europeans and is considering potential privacy law modifications in order to keep its favored status with reference to the fundamental European General Data Protection Rule (GDPR).

Yet the ground continues to move.

When Europe’s top court invalidated Privacy Shield, the primary method of data sharing with the US, in 2020 out of concern that US spy agencies would be able to obstruct it, legal ambiguity increased.

The White House stated that the Biden administration’s revision last month established “safeguards” to restrict US intelligence services to only using the data for designated and “validated” national security purposes.

Additionally, their civil liberties policies need to be updated.

According to Google, its analytics technologies already protect users’ personal information.

Organizations, not Google, are in charge of deciding what information is gathered and how it is utilized by these tools.

Identity Check’s contract with it to analyze website traffic would be used to assist bill users, which would compromise their privacy.

“The information contained within Google Analytics 360 will not be disclosed in a form that allows identification of an individual,” it said.

A year-long trial of Identity Check running since September for issuing over-18 hospitality cards was not using Google Analytics, officials said.