Google Defends Third-Party Sharing of Gmail Data, in Letter to Senators

App developers may share Gmail user data with third parties as long as they are transparent and adhere to Google privacy policies. Vice President-Public Policy and Government Affairs Susan Molinari disclosed those details in response to questions from GOP Sens. John Thune, S.D.; Roger Wicker, Miss.; and Jerry Moran, Kan. (see 1807100060). If Google allows third-party sharing, the lawmakers asked what action Google has taken to recover the data. Preventing abuse before it happens is the goal, Molinari said: “When we detect anomalous behavior, we investigate. And when we suspend apps, we warn users to remove the apps’ access to their data.” Developers must obtain consent from the user and offer a privacy policy explaining how the data will be used, Molinari said. Those developers are subject to Google’s user data policy and application programming interface terms of service. “Our verification process … reviews the privacy policy and works to ensure that developers’ requests for access to user data make sense in light of those disclosures,” Molinari wrote. “We make the privacy policy easily accessible to users to review before deciding whether to grant access.”