US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating the case of breach of Apple’s Safari browser by Google, reports Bloomberg.

FTC will now have to determine whether Google’s planting of cookies on Safari, bypassing Apple software’s privacy settings, misled consumers about privacy safeguards. Through these cookies, Google was able to aim targeted advertising at Safari users.

FTC would also probe whether Google violated the 20-year settlement that it signed with the commission last year. At that time, Google accepted to have violated its own privacy policies with introducing Buzz social-networking service in 2010.

Google’s settlement with FTC requires Google to follow policies that protect consumer data in new products.

“We will of course cooperate with any officials who have questions,” said Google’s spokesman, Chris Gaither. “But it’s important to remember that we didn’t anticipate this would happen.”

According to Gaither, company has been removing the files since discovering the mistake.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that US and European Union regulators are investigating the case of Google using Safari users’ information and bypassing the Apple software’s privacy settings.

European regulators are reviewing Google’s new privacy policy. CNIL, France’s data-protection agency, will soon send a list of questions to Google.

European regulators “are very concerned, because they are persuaded that these new rules are not at all compliant with the existing European laws,” said European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding on the day when Google’s new privacy policy came into effect.

Google under FTC scanner for Safari browser breach