• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 20, 2015

Those who think a government agency should spot-check Google's privacy practices will stand up and applaud the Italian government. On Friday reports began to surface that the Italian data-privacy authority outlined a process for Google to comply with the country's privacy laws.

The latest agreement with European privacy regulator means the company will need to adhere to periodic checks at its U.S. headquarters to monitor compliance with privacy policies, and opt-outs for targeted advertising. It also will need to disclose how long it keeps users' data, per one report. Google has until Jan. 15, 2016 to comply.

The Italian authority also demands that the privacy policy must be unambiguous and easily accessible, and tailored to each specific service, such as Gmail, Google Wallet and Chrome.

The notice must tell users how and why Google collects and stores their data, including how the company builds profiles by combining data across multiple services, using cookies and other identifiers such as fingerprinting. Google must also set up an archive of previous versions of its privacy notices to allow users to keep track of changes, and improve storage of personal information and establish a specific timeframe for deleting information from its online and back-up systems.