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Google bats for individual privacy as Sundar Pichai heads to Washington, DC

Google said companies must be transparent about the types of personal information they collect, why they collect it, and how they use or disclose it, particularly when used to make decisions about the individual.

Google bats for individual privacy as Sundar Pichai heads to Washington, DC

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is also heading to Washington, DC amid "concerns about privacy. (Photo: iStock)

Batting for respect of privacy of individuals ahead of the Senate hearing, Google has said the organisations must operate with respect for individuals’ interests when they process personal information.

In its framework running into three pages, the tech giant said companies must be transparent about the types of personal information they collect, why they collect it, and how they use or disclose it, particularly when used to make decisions about the individual.

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The Google framework came as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation was set to discuss data privacy on Wednesday with tech companies including Google, Apple, AT&T, Amazon, and Twitter.

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Google Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright, in a blog post on Tuesday, said the users have long entrusted the company to be responsible with their data and they take that trust and responsibility very seriously.

“Google products and features cannot launch until they are approved by the specialists in our Privacy and Data Protection Office, which solicits input from across Google, as well as periodically from users and experts worldwide,” said Enright.

“More than any other time I have worked in this field, there is real momentum to develop baseline rules of the road for data protection. Google welcomes this and supports comprehensive, baseline privacy regulation,” he added.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is also heading to Washington, DC amid “concerns about privacy, suspicion about his company’s relationship with China” and a reported “censored Search” engine for the country.

(With agency inputs)

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