Even though European regulators want it changed, Google's current privacy policy is necessary for the company to be able to create new products that know more about Google users, Larry Page, the company's chief executive, said Tuesday.
“Virtually everything that we want to do, I think, is somewhat at odds with locking down all of your information for uses you haven't contemplated yet,†Mr. Page said. “That's something I worry about.â€
Mr. Page spoke at Google's annual Zeitgeist sales conference in Paradise Valley, Ariz., the same day that European privacy regulators sent him a letter requesting that Google make significant changes to its privacy policy or risk fines or other penalties.
He said he was “sad†that regulators have tried to restrict certain types of online data collection, when nobody knows how the Internet will function in a decade.
The policy under consideration, which was announced in January and took effect in March, say s that for people logged in to a Google account, Google can use information shared on one service in other Google services. For example, Google could show people an ad on YouTube based on what they have searched for in the search engine, or correct the spelling of a friend's name in a Google search based on information gleaned from Gmail.
Mr. Page said that recent Google products would not be possible without the policy. His example was a new product for Android called Google Now, which can do things like alert you that you need to leave to avoid being late for a meeting based on information from your calendar, your phone's current location and traffic conditions.
Google plans to introduce similar products using information made accessible by the new privacy policy, he said, like one that could instruct your phone that it is not a good time to interrupt you if you are in an important meeting.
“That's almost a trivial thing to know, but for us, solving tha t problem requires changing our privacy policy, which we've now done,†he said. “And now you'll see those kinds of things roll out.â€
European regulators asked Google to more clearly explain which data it collects and how it uses it, and to more easily allow people to opt out, among other requests.
In a statement, Google said, “We are confident that our privacy notices respect European law.†A person familiar with Google's perspective said that the company breathed a sigh of relief when the European decision arrived, because it had expected a much harsher penalty, like a fine and charges that Google broke the law.
In the United States, consumer privacy groups loudly protested Google's new privacy policy when it was announced, and one, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, filed suit to try to make the Federal Trade Commission block it. A judge dismissed that complaint and the F.T.C. has not said it is investigating Google's policy.
In th e meantime, Google has faced other privacy penalties in the United States, including a $22.5 million fine in August over showing ads to Safari users.
Marc Rotenberg, president of E.P.I.C., said that for all the privacy uproars that accompany new features introduced by Google and other Web companies, the new privacy policy was most controversial.
“This is the Google issue of 2012,†Mr. Rotenberg said.
The European decision was minimal, but left the door open for future enforcement, Mr. Rotenberg said.
“Google bought some time,†he said. The message from European authorities, he said, was, “We've been through this before, with companies like Facebook, and they responded. If you choose not to respond, you do so at your own risk.â€
Google has shown new found caution when it releases new products and seems acutely aware that moving too quickly might raise red flags among privacy advocates and users. For example, in August, it introduced a feature to show personal Gmail messages in search results, but only for the first million people who signed up. On Monday, it opened the feature to anyone, but still limited it to people who sign up.
