Published 04 Feb 2020

The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, has praised the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), saying it represents a “great template” for other regions and nations looking to implement data protection regulation.

Pichai was speaking about artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and technological governance in future at a session at the Davos World Economic Forum. Google’s business model is largely built around large-scale data collection, with this enabling the company to target advertising much more precisely. Despite this, Pichai said he believes that privacy should be at the core of Google’s operations, adding:

“Users come to Google at very important moments, ask us questions, we deal with people’s sensitive information in Gmail, Google Photos and so on and so we have to earn their trust. Today we do it by giving them control and transparency and choice around it.”

Speaking about artificial intelligence (AI), Pichai said AI-based technologies have a profound potential to transform some areas in society. For example, he talked about Google perhaps being able to make decisions with more limited data, thus better protecting people’s privacy, or the healthcare industry being able to diagnose conditions like cancer earlier.

He did, however, point to AI’s potential for infringing people’s privacy, such as by combining facial recognition with mass surveillance. This echoed a recent editorial Pichai wrote for the Financial Times in which he highlighted the possible nefarious applications of AI, citing facial recognition as one technology that could be misused. In the editorial, he said there was a need for government regulation of AI technologies, writing:

“International alignment will be critical to making global standards work. To get there, we need agreement on core values. Companies such as ours cannot just build promising new technology and let market forces decide how it will be used. It is equally incumbent on us to make sure that technology is harnessed for good and available to everyone.”

Pichai also suggested here that the GDPR could be used as a template for developing consistent worldwide regulation for artificial intelligence. He also said that Google was amenable to working with governments on developing such regulation, suggesting that different sectors may warrant varying levels of regulation. For example, he said the healthcare sector should face relatively few limitations, while sensitive areas like autonomous vehicles may require stricter regulation.

While the GDPR may have been initially controversial, Pinchai’s broad backing for the regulation echoes the benefits many organisations have discovered after conforming to it. Even if the GDPR had not come into force, the safe and respectful management of personal data would still be demanded by consumers, and justifiably so. Complying with the GDPR, however, achieves this by instilling a culture of cybersecurity and sound practices in an organisation, resulting in fewer breaches and enhanced consumer trust. At Pro-Networks, our office IT support services can help you to stay on the right side of the GDPR and enjoy all the benefits this brings.

 

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