Monday, August 2, 2010

Google cleared of grabbing personal data via Street View vehicles

Google cleared of grabbing personal data via Street View vehicles

Filed under: Security, News, Google

A UK regulatory body has cleared Google of stealing users' personal data via Wi-Fi snooping from its Street View vehicles. Google admitted that it mistakenly snooped packets of data from open Wi-Fi hotspots while taking photos for Street View, and it turned over the data to several governments who wanted to investigate exactly what had been collected. The UK Information Commissioner's Office concluded that the data Google ended up with was "not significant."

This doesn't let Google off the hook in Germany, Australia, or any of the other countries that have opened investigations, but it's a good sign for the company. According to the BBC, the UK ICO couldn't find any case where an individual could have been harmed or compromised by the data that Google gathered, but they said that the company was still "wrong" to collect it.

Google cleared of grabbing personal data via Street View vehicles originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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