Watchdog group suing FTC over Google changes

SAN FRANSISCO - A consumer watchdog group wants to keep Google from making sweeping changes to its privacy policies next month. And it's suing the Federal Trade Commission to do it.

The planned changes would enable Google to bundle the personal information gathered by its Internet search engine and other services so the company can get a better understanding of its users and potentially sell more advertising.

But the Electronic Privacy Information Center says Google's policy switch would violate restrictions in an agreement reached with the FTC last year. Its lawsuit is trying to force FTC to enforce those rules.

The complaint also wants a court order to block Google's policy changes from taking effect March 1. European regulators already have asked Google to delay the policy changes.