Norwegian government agencies that use Google Apps, act in conflict with the rules for data protection. According to the organization for the protection of privacy in the country, there are insufficient safeguards against the Patriot Act.
The Norwegian data authority is a government agency that monitors the implementation of privacy and data protection in the country. In a recent paper, concludes the privacy watch dog that Norwegian public sector organisations that use Google Apps the privacy act (2000) of the country violated.
The reason is that the eu-Us Safe Harbor agreement does not provide enough protection against the Us Patriot Act. It specified that a company like Google, which in the U.S. is located, or in the hands of an American company, could be forced to data provided by the company is stored or processed, regardless of whether this is confidential or not. Norway is not a full member of the European Union, but follows as a participant in the European Economic Area or certain European regulations, including Safe Harbor.
The data authority that the Patriot Act is at odds with the protection of privacy. It would particularly conflict with the Norwegian obligations regarding backups, security audits, and knowledge of the technical background for the processing of sensitive data by public authorities. Google would not be sufficient opportunity and information in this field and also would help the company to little safeguards on the access to data. The conclusion is made after a complaint from a citizen about the use of Gmail by the municipality of Varvik. The data authority wants Varvik stops with the use of Google Apps. The organization advises companies to stop with the use of the service.