Allow users to close their geographic services at the request of European authorities

Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy advisor, said in a blog post today that Google would allow global WiFi users to shut down services that Flesche their location.

Data protection regulators in 27 countries said in May that any information that might disclose the location of service users should be treated as privacy data. Technology companies can use user location data to send targeted ads and help users find peripheral facilities.

Google says it uses WiFi data that is publicly broadcast by wireless access points and does not disclose personal information.

Flesche said: "We think we can further protect the privacy of users." We will launch a shutdown service to allow users to close geographically related services. Once the user shuts down the service, our service cannot use the access point to determine the location of the user. ”

European data-protection officials surveyed earlier this year on reports of Apple's iphone's alleged illegal collection and preservation of user location data. In May, European privacy officials said the information gathered through WiFi access points and mobile devices was private data, governed by EU privacy laws.