Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Does Google’s new privacy policy conflict with European law? France’s official data protection agency is launching an investigation to find out.

The Paris-based data watchdog CNIL will check out Google’s new policies across Europe, reports Reuters.

The team of regulators will produce questions for the company by mid-March, according to a letter CNIL sent Google.

“The CNIL and EU data authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of personal data across services,” CNIL wrote to Google. “They have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing, and its compliance with European data protection legislation.”

Google announced controversial changes to its privacy policy in January. The updated rules will house all of Google’s products, including YouTube, Gmail and Google+, under one privacy roof.

Google also announced that it would start using data collected by non-search products (such as Google Docs) to improve results in Google Search. So if you often share news and photos of the latest sports cars on your Google+ profile, Google will now be able to use that data to give you Volkswagens instead of insects when you search the web for “beetle.”

Google reiterated its commitment to privacy in a blog post early this month — while saying it remains open to questions about the changes. Google also sent a letter to CNIL responding to its inquiry.

According to Google, these changes will make the overall Google experience simpler, more seamless and more user-friendly and cross-platform user data will not be shared with advertisers.

“As we’ve said several times over the past week, while our privacy policies will change on 1st March, our commitment to our privacy principles is as strong as ever,” wrote Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel.

GTD, 18 minute plans, organized folders… none of them work as well as you’d like.

The reason is simple: you don’t want to get more done.

You’re afraid. Getting more done would mean exposing yourself to considerable risk, to crossing bridges, to putting things into the world. Which means failure.

The leap the lizard brain takes when confronting the opportunity is a simple formula: GTD=Failure.

Until you quiet the resistance and commit to actually shipping things that matter, all the productivity tips in the world aren’t going to make a real difference. And, it turns out, once you do make the commitment, the productivity tips aren’t that needed.

You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.

A village in northern India has changed its name from that of a god to SnapDeal.com Nagar. The tiny town had good reason to, because SnapDeal, India’s version of Groupon, provided it with fresh water.

SnapDeal’s founder Kunal Bahl wanted to do something good with his company’s burgeoning profits, so like Bill Gates and his philanthropic efforts, the 28-year-old CEO looked for an opportunity where he could have the most bang for the buck.

His answer? Water. He found out that a mere $5,000 would install 15 hand pumps that would make it so the villagers wouldn’t have to walk nearly two miles just to get clean water. The result was life-changing, Bahl told CNN.

The villagers were so grateful for the SnapDeal.com-branded pumps distributed throughout the city, they decided to change the name of their village, formerly known as Shiv Nagar (named after the Hindu god Shiva), to SnapDeal.com Nagar.

Kunal Bahl hints at more such philanthropy in the works by his bustling New Delhi-based business, the largest daily deal retailer in India, according to the SnapDeal.com blog. When asked if this was a marketing or PR gimmick, he replied,

“All we can say is that time will show our commitment to this project and even the things we do in the future. You need not be a multibillionaire company to make a change in society around you. This project was not about the power of money but the intent and efforts which our team took to give this dream alive. Even if one small company takes inspiration from this, we will feel our efforts have borne fruit.”

Graphics courtesy SnapDeal.com

Local Business Centers Serve as Recycling Stations for Plastic Packing “Peanuts”
and Use Recycled Materials Plus Low-Energy Lighting

IRVINE, CA  – AIM Mail Centers, a national retail chain of franchised business solution centers, is doing its part to help protect the environment. And, although Earth Day will be celebrated on April 22, that commitment extends throughout the year.

“Our business involves a wide range of materials for services like copying and shipping. We take our commitment to the environment very seriously and are always looking for ways to do business in as environmentally friendly a way as possible,” said Michael Sawitz, CEO of AIM Mail Centers. “Moreover, we are very lucky in having an exceptional group of local franchise owners who share that philosophy.”

All of the nearly 90 AIM Mail Centers across the country are aggressive proponents of reuse and recycling programs in their local communities. In the shipping area, recycled corrugated cardboard is used. And copies are made with recycled papers. The centers also serve as a recycling point for any loose plastic packing material, or “peanuts,” that people no longer need. In fact, the company is a member of the Plastic Loose Fill Council, part of whose mission is to support “the use and subsequent recovery, reuse and recycling of polystyrene loose fill.” In addition, the lighting ballasts and tubes in the stores are low-energy technology.

AIM Mail Centers will be highlighting this commitment on Earth Day, April 22, and every day at each of its business services centers nationwide.

For information on AIM Mail Centers and to find a location, visit this site.