25 October 2010 | Author: N. Hamilton Media copywriter
Google's having a bad week - on both sides of the pond.
Amidst reports that Google TV has been blocked by major television networks stateside, BBC News has reported that Britain's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), is set to critically review the personal data collected by the search giant as part of the company's controversial Street View project.
Although Google had maintained that no "significant" details had been collected at the time of the Information Commissioner's first review, the "mortified" search giant has now admitted that computer passwords and emails had been copied "accidentally" during Street View data collection.
Writing on Google's blog, Senior Vice President Alan Eustace said, "It is clear from those [external] inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary in some instances entire e-mails and URLS were captured, as well as passwords.
"We want to delete this data as soon as possible and I would like to apologise again for the fact that we collected it in the first place.
"We are mortified by what happened, but confident that...changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users."
Following Google's admission, the ICO has announced that it will again analyse data collected by the search giant in order to determine the true extent of the internet giant's privacy breach - having already analysed a small sample of data in early May - adding that the watchdog may yet crack down on Google by applying its enforcement powers.
"We will be making enquiries to see whether this information relates to the data inadvertently captured in the UK, before deciding on the necessary course of action, including a consideration of the need to use our enforcement powers," an ICO spokesman said.
Whether or not the ICO slaps Google's wrists, the search giant has no doubt been stung by the embarrassing episode - particularly as privacy becomes an ever-hotter topic.
With social networkers and web users warned to protect against identity fraud and Facebook having announced that users will soon be able to get personal with better data protection, the search giant could be in serious danger of losing the trust of privacy-conscious web-users who, data shows, are beginning to spend more time on social networking sites than Google based sites.
Privacy watchdog to review Google's Street View – again
Google's having a bad week - on both sides of the pond.Amidst reports that Google TV has been blocked by major television networks stateside, BBC News has reported that Britain's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), is set to critically review the personal data collected by the search giant as part of the company's controversial Street View project.
Although Google had maintained that no "significant" details had been collected at the time of the Information Commissioner's first review, the "mortified" search giant has now admitted that computer passwords and emails had been copied "accidentally" during Street View data collection.
Writing on Google's blog, Senior Vice President Alan Eustace said, "It is clear from those [external] inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary in some instances entire e-mails and URLS were captured, as well as passwords.
"We want to delete this data as soon as possible and I would like to apologise again for the fact that we collected it in the first place.
"We are mortified by what happened, but confident that...changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users."
Following Google's admission, the ICO has announced that it will again analyse data collected by the search giant in order to determine the true extent of the internet giant's privacy breach - having already analysed a small sample of data in early May - adding that the watchdog may yet crack down on Google by applying its enforcement powers.
"We will be making enquiries to see whether this information relates to the data inadvertently captured in the UK, before deciding on the necessary course of action, including a consideration of the need to use our enforcement powers," an ICO spokesman said.
Whether or not the ICO slaps Google's wrists, the search giant has no doubt been stung by the embarrassing episode - particularly as privacy becomes an ever-hotter topic.
With social networkers and web users warned to protect against identity fraud and Facebook having announced that users will soon be able to get personal with better data protection, the search giant could be in serious danger of losing the trust of privacy-conscious web-users who, data shows, are beginning to spend more time on social networking sites than Google based sites.
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