Consumer privacy groups led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission to block the merger of Google and DoubleClick based on privacy concerns.

The groups want the FTC to force Google to adopt stricter privacy guidelines regarding the amount of personal data organizations are allowed to collect and store. These restrictions would be similar to those existing in Canada and the European Union.

The complaint asks the FTC to assess Google’s ability to record, analyze, track, and profile the activities of Internet users with data that is personally identifiable, as well as data that is not personally identifiable, asking the FTC to halt the merger unless such steps are taken.

The complaint states in part, “Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world.”

DoubleClick responded in a statement denying that Google will be able to use the DoubleClick data because it belongs to DoubleClick clients and cannot be used by others. Double Click merely has limited rights to use the data for identifying aggregate trends.

DoubleClick serves billions of corporate display ads daily on thousands of sites across the Internet. Google is the leader in online paid search advertising, which places text ads on search results pages and on its network of publisher sites. The merger would make Google the most powerful force in Internet advertising if it goes through as planned later this year.

More information at: Reuters