17 May 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google launches encrypted search engine following privacy breach

Google's Street View fleet is in trouble for breaching privacy once again, after it was revealed that its cars had unwittingly collected data from open Wi-Fi connections. In response, the company has announced the launch of an encrypted version of its core search engine, to ensure search results cannot be accessed over open connections.

Google's purpose in accessing Wi-Fi connections was to record the SSID and MAC addresses of hotspots for use in its location-based services, but PC Pro reports that the legacy code used to obtain this information unintentionally collected small pieces of payload data from open connections.

Writing for the Google blog, senior vice president of engineering and research, Alan Eustance, explained: "We will typically have collected only fragments of payload data because: our cars are on the move; someone would need to be using the network as a car passed by; and our in-car WiFi equipment automatically changes channels roughly five times a second.

"In addition, we did not collect information traveling over secure, password-protected Wi-Fi networks."

With a growing record of privacy breaches, Google is taking steps to restore confidence in its services. As well as contacting the relevant authorities in each country where payload data was collected to ensure it is properly disposed of, the Mountain View giant has also confirmed that no further information on Wi-Fi connections will be collected by its Street View cars in the future, and the fleet has been grounded until these changes can be made.

By encrypting its search engine, Google is also helping ensure the privacy of users on open internet connections, following a similar modification to Gmail earlier this year. The company did not comment on how this encrypted search would work for visitors to Google.com, but it may be similar to the HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) used for Gmail.

Despite its apologetic stance, Google was previously defensive of its data collection practices, stating last month: "Today, geolocation services are an increasingly popular part of the web.

"Wi-Fi location information is by its very nature publicly broadcast and collecting it for geolocation purposes is not new or unique to Google. Such information has been collected by companies for years, and many other internet companies are using exactly the same information collected by different providers."