03 November 2010 | Author: J. Morton News Editor
In a dramatic about-face from its previous position, the Information Commissioner's Office for the UK has found Google guilty of breaching data laws. Previously, the government absolved the search giant for activities concerning its Street View cars.
However, according to Christopher Graham, Google will not be prosecuted for the infraction, though its data protection practices in the UK will be fully reviewed.
The controversial situation first grabbed headlines this spring when it was reported Google Street View cars, which photographed many of the world's avenues and thoroughfares, had harvested personal user data from unsecured wireless networks.
As the data came from many different nations, governments worldwide decried the actions, which Google maintained were purely accidental.
According to the BBC, Canada's condemnation of the infraction renewed interest in the ICO's investigation.
Critics said the ruling should have come immediately on the heels of Google's announcement and the original investigation.
"The ICO failed to act when it should have done, despite the fact that Google staged a significant infringement of privacy and civil liberties, by harvesting millions of e-mails, wi-fFi addresses, and passwords," MP Robert Halfon told BBC News.
Halfon also questioned the ICO's ability to effectively monitor Google's privacy practices.
"The ICO has already proved that it lacks the technical expertise to audit Google's activity. What confidence can we have in their audit now?"
Google has been apologising to governments worldwide following the original incident, despite varying reactions to the situation.
Google is "profoundly sorry for mistakenly collecting payload data in the UK," according to the company's Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer.
"Since we announced our mistake in May we have co-operated closely with the ICO and worked to improve our internal controls," he said.
However, critics such as Halfon have demanded the deletion of the collected payload data "as soon as it is legally cleared to do so."
Google eludes prosecution in UK despite 'significant breach' of law
In a dramatic about-face from its previous position, the Information Commissioner's Office for the UK has found Google guilty of breaching data laws. Previously, the government absolved the search giant for activities concerning its Street View cars.However, according to Christopher Graham, Google will not be prosecuted for the infraction, though its data protection practices in the UK will be fully reviewed.
The controversial situation first grabbed headlines this spring when it was reported Google Street View cars, which photographed many of the world's avenues and thoroughfares, had harvested personal user data from unsecured wireless networks.
As the data came from many different nations, governments worldwide decried the actions, which Google maintained were purely accidental.
According to the BBC, Canada's condemnation of the infraction renewed interest in the ICO's investigation.
Critics said the ruling should have come immediately on the heels of Google's announcement and the original investigation.
"The ICO failed to act when it should have done, despite the fact that Google staged a significant infringement of privacy and civil liberties, by harvesting millions of e-mails, wi-fFi addresses, and passwords," MP Robert Halfon told BBC News.
Halfon also questioned the ICO's ability to effectively monitor Google's privacy practices.
"The ICO has already proved that it lacks the technical expertise to audit Google's activity. What confidence can we have in their audit now?"
Google has been apologising to governments worldwide following the original incident, despite varying reactions to the situation.
Google is "profoundly sorry for mistakenly collecting payload data in the UK," according to the company's Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer.
"Since we announced our mistake in May we have co-operated closely with the ICO and worked to improve our internal controls," he said.
However, critics such as Halfon have demanded the deletion of the collected payload data "as soon as it is legally cleared to do so."
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