Google is one of the world's least accountable and transparent organisations, only slightly less accountable than Interpol.

Research from One World Trust ranks intergovernmental organisations, international non-governmental organisations and transnational corporations. It awards points towards accountability based on transparency, participation, evaluation and complaint and response mechanisms.

Google was in last place for overall accountability with 17 points. PricewaterhouseCoopers International was one point ahead and Interpol was next with 22 points. At the top of the lists were General Electric with a score of 65 for the multinational companies; Christian Aid was top of the NGOs and United Nations Development Programme was top of intergovernmental organisations with a score of 88.

The search giant, which refused to co-operate with researchers, scored zero for transparency. On social and environmental impact evaluation capabilities Google again scored zero. The company also trailed for its internal complaint procedures.

Researchers noted that Google has a privacy policy on what information it collects from users, but "the policy itself meets no good practice principles".

Google was criticised for not having a general contact or feedback link on its website.

The whole report, or a summary, is available from here although ironically you will need to register - not very transparent is it? ®

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