29 July 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google Street View cleared of privacy charges in UK

Google has been cleared of privacy breach charges in the UK after its Street View cars were accused of surreptitiously collecting personal data on Britain's streets.

The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) ruled that Google had not gathered "significant" personal details from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, but did say that Google was "wrong" to collect such information in the first place.

In a statement, the ICO explained: "On the basis of the samples we saw, we are satisfied so far that it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data.

"There is also no evidence - as yet - that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment."

Google has apologised for gathering the data from Wi-Fi networks, which were accessed in order to boost its location-based services. According to the BBC, Google has said its Street View cars will no longer access open networks.

"We welcome the news that the data protection authorities in the UK have found that the payload data contained no meaningful personal information," Google responded.

"As we said when we announced our mistake, we did not want and have never used any payload data in our products or services."

Despite the company's claims that its actions were not illegal, Google is still under investigation by the UK's Metropolitan police as well as officials in France, Germany and the United States.