-boGoogle pledges to strengthen privacy protection.

CORPORATE IT UPDATE-(C)1995-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

31 March 2011 - Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has announced plans to adopt a package of measures aimed at boosting the privacy protection of its users, including hiring outside auditors to check into its handling of personal data, as part of a settlement with the US authorities, the Financial Times reported.

The Internet search group also pledged to request customer consent every time when it boosts the sharing of data that was collected from its users and to explore ways to strengthen its protection.

According to analysts, the settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission over a complaint filed in relation to Google's social networking service called Buzz could set a precedent for other inquiries into the privacy policies of other social networking websites such as Facebook.

The launch of Google Buzz in February last year revealed the names of people that had frequently been contacted by a person from his or her Google e-mail account.

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