Thursday, 28 June 2007

Google Threatens to Shut Gmail in Germany

Google has threatened to shut the company’s Gmail services in Germany if the new bill on monitoring of telecommunication and internet services is passed in the country.

The country’s parliament is mulling to pass a law that requires Internet service providers and email providers like Gmail and Yahoo, to collect and store information on users' mailing and Internet habits.

Germany seeks to impose a new rule that requires email users to register for an account with their real names and address, so the government can keep track of them. Since this rule clashes with Google's anonymous email accounts policy, the world’s fastest growing IT company is now in a dilemma on whether or not to shut down one of the most popular email services.

The German Government says the new bill was drafted, keeping in mind the growing terrorism threats. According to the government, keeping a tab on people’s email activities and double checking addresses will help the government filter out suspects.

Peter Fleischer, global privacy counsel at Google, told German economics magazine, Wirtschaftswoche that the bill would be 'a severe blow to privacy'. He threatened to shut down the service altogether, in Germany, if the bill is passed. Fleischer further explained that the law will not be able to keep a check on individuals because, users would simply switch to email accounts run overseas.