Google/DoubleClick Merger (Sept 2007)

Google-DoubleClick (September 2007)

On Sept.17, 2007, CIPPIC filed a formal request asking the Privacy Commissioner to exercise her audit powers under s.18 of PIPEDA to investigate a number of alleged violations of PIPEDA by Google and DoubleClick, and to assess the privacy implications of their planned merger. This request followed upon similar filings by public interest groups in the US and Europe.

By way of a letter dated Aug 28, 2008, the OPC stated noted that it had conducted a thorough review of the issues, concluding that our "concerns regarding Google's online transparency with respect to their privacy practices were well-founded", but that "the scope of the issue of behavioural marketing is larger than the ramifications of a merger and what may be posted online regarding privacy policy information. We determined that the best way forward at this time would not be through an audit of one particular entity but rather by adopting a more broad approach", via its Research, Education and Outreach branch.