Score one to Saul Hansell of the New York Times. He recently pointed out that, in keeping with the minimalist aesthetic of its home page, Google did not provide a direct link to its online privacy policy – apparently in contravention of a California law requiring the policy to be only one click away.
Google’s initial response was to brush off the issue with the argument that anyone could easily find the policy from the search box, so that should satisfy the one-click rule.
Now it has changed its mind – though not its self-conscious minimalism. As Google exec Marissa Mayer explains today, the link to the privacy policy is now being added to Google.com – though only after first stripping another word off the home page to make room for it. Heaven forbid the wordcount should rise to 29.
