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Two technology interest groups had recently reiterated their call for a privacy investigation into the proposed merger of Google and DoubleClick, and threatened to sue the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over possible conflicts of interest surrounding the agency's chairman and her involvement with a law firm representing DoubleClick's European interests.

The groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), are requesting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman Deborah Platt Majoras be recused from the ongoing Google-DoubleClick merger review, as Jones Day, her husband's law firm, is representing DoubleClick before the European Commission.

However, Majoras said that while Jones Day represents DoubleClick in the review of the deal before the European Commission, the firm does not represent the company before the FTC, has never appeared before the FTC and hasn't been mentioned in dozens of meetings and submissions to the agency.

"The commission will be failing consumers and, frankly, democracy if it doesn't specifically ensure that privacy is addressed in the merger," said Jeff Chester, founder and executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD).

The proposed Google-DoubleClick deal has drawn criticism due to a political controversy over deleted documents and conflicts of interest among online rights group. The deal is under inspection from legislators in the US, the European Union and Australia.

Critics of the merger are worried about the vast amount of data to which Google will have access should the DoubleClick deal be approved. The search engine stores information on user queries, IP addresses and cookie details for approximately 18 to 24 months. With the addition of online ad provider DoubleClick, Google will have access to information about the activity of users across hundreds of Web sites.

"We make privacy a priority because our business depends on it," said David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer at Google, in a congressional hearing in September.

EPIC and the CDD have also filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FTC asking for all documents relating to the connection between Jones Day and the Google-DoubleClick deal.

In addition to worrying about data privacy, consumer groups are concerned about the deal's effect on media that increasingly rely on Internet advertising for revenue.

Google declined to comment directly on the privacy groups' latest activities but said "This acquisition is good for consumers, advertisers and website publishers and we continue to be confident that it will be approved."