Google is looking for a new data privacy engineer for its Privacy Red Team to help the company continue to improve its data security practices in the wake of a $22.5 million fine for allegedly bypassing privacy settings for the Safari Web browser.
On the heels of a $22.5 million fine
from the Federal Trade Commission in July for allegedly bypassing the privacy settings of Apple's Safari
Web browser, Google is looking to hire a new privacy engineer for
its Privacy Red Team that adds an extra layer of scrutiny to its security
practices.
In a posting on the Google Jobs Website,
Google says it is seeking a new data privacy engineer to "help ensure that
our products are designed to the highest standards and are operated in a manner
that protects the privacy of our users. Specifically, you will work as a member
of our Privacy Red Team to independently identify, research and help resolve
potential privacy risks across all of our products, services and business
processes in place today."
A "red team" in enterprise
IT typically is a fast-response group that pays extra attention to security and
privacy issues at every level, making sure that systems, personnel and
practices are secure and battened down.
"Top candidates will have an
intimate knowledge of the inner workings of modern Web browsers and computer
networks, enjoy analyzing software designs and implementations from both a
privacy and security perspective, and will be recognized experts at discovering
and prioritizing subtle, unusual and emergent security flaws," according
to the job posting.
Google declined to comment on
whether the new hire would be the first-ever appointment to a red team that is
being newly established or if the company is adding to an existing red team
inside Google. The search giant hasn't publicized the work of a security "red team"
before, so its remains a mystery as to whether the red team is new or expanding.
"We are always on the lookout
for talented people in a variety of roles," said a Google spokesman,
without giving any further details about the job posting.
Google's posting said the company is
seeking candidates for the job who can:
analyze software and services from a privacy
perspective, ensuring they are in line with Google's stated privacy
policies, practices and the expectations of its users;
research, document and help remediate design decisions,
operating procedures or processes that may directly or indirectly contribute
to future privacy risk; and
promote the use of cutting-edge browser and
application-level technologies to maintain the privacy of key user data.
Whether or not the new job posting
is related to July's $22.5 million FTC fine is sheer speculation, but it is
possible that Google is expanding its security and privacy efforts to help it avoid
future such incidents.
The case was the result of
allegations earlier this year that Google used code to bypass Safari privacy
settings that blocked user tracking cookies by default. The code enabled the
browser to accept cookies. Google disabled the code soon after reports of the
issue surfaced, stating at the time the situation was unintentional and that
the ad cookies did not collect personal information.
The FTC fine was just the latest
entry in a long list of privacy battles between Google and government
regulators. In 2011, Google settled with FTC regarding privacy complaints about
its Google Buzz social network. As part of that settlement, Google agreed to
adopt a privacy program as well as submit to an independent privacy audit every
other year for the next two decades.
In April, the Federal Communications
Commission fined Google $25,000 after finding the company "deliberately impeded and delayed" an
investigation into how it collected data for Google Street View, a technology
featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides a panoramic view from
positions on streets across the world.
After the FCC fine, the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney General's
Office requesting an investigation into Google to
determine if any laws had been broken.
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