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SAN FRANCISCO – Google is facing increased scrutiny by lawmakers in Washington on its size and influence. Now, a researcher who recently resigned from the company in protest is urging them.
In a rough letter sent this week, former employee Jack Poulson criticized Google's treatment of a plan to build a version of its search engine acceptable to the Chinese government. He said the project was a "catastrophic failure of the process of internal confidentiality review".
He said lawmakers should increase transparency and oversight of the technology company and industry, saying there is a "vast process of inexplicable decision-making".
Dr. Poulson left the company after press articles revealed the existence of the project last month. It was first reported by the information website The Intercept.
Google Privacy Officer Keith Enright is expected to testify Wednesday before a congressional committee on the company's approach to data protection. Legislators will also hear testimony from Apple, AT & T, Amazon, Twitter and Charter Communications.
Dr. Poulson said the Chinese project, called Dragonfly, had several "disruptive components". A prototype, he said, would allow a company with which Google would partner in China to display a person's search history based on his phone number. He added that the project also censored a long list of topics including information on air quality and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He also drew the attention of lawmakers to the commitments made by Google under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission in 2011. Google must, among other things, submit to regular confidentiality audits and follow a full program confidentiality. The privacy program includes reviews of all Google products for privacy issues prior to their release.
Google's privacy verifiers are responsible for analyzing the Google code and ensuring that it does not violate the privacy of users. But after the release of Dragonfly, several critics said they signed sections of code for Dragonfly without understanding the project or its implications for privacy, according to two people familiar with the process. People would only speak under the guise of anonymity to protect their relationship with the company.
The examiners, they said, felt that they had been denied relevant information about the Dragonfly code, and raised questions about the review process, which remained unanswered.
A Google representative did not respond to requests for comments.
Google released Monday a framework for privacy legislation that describes to legislators how the company considers its role in data protection.
"Innovative uses of data should not be presumed illegal simply because they are unprecedented, but organizations must take into account and mitigate potential harm," says the executive. "This means paying particular attention to sensitive information that may pose a significant risk. To enable organizations to develop effective mitigation measures, regulators need to be clear about what constitutes harm. "
In a blog post, Mr. Enright of Google said that the company supported comprehensive privacy regulations. Google has also recently increased its privacy efforts, forming a team dedicated to protecting privacy and data.
Google left China in 2010, denouncing government censorship. That year, the company also announced that it had discovered that Chinese hackers had attacked the company's infrastructure.
"It should be pretty obvious that they should be changed between 2010 and today," said Cynthia Wong, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
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