By Nicole Kobie
"Google has admitted that its Street View cars picked up private emails and passwords while scanning wireless connections, forcing the ICO to reconsider taking action."
Google sent out its Street View camera cars with Wi-Fi scanning equipment earlier this year, inadvertently, it says, picking up data being sent over the connections.
In May, Google said the data was so fragmented it couldn't be pieced together, but has now admitted that examinations of the collected data by "external regulators" has shown that's not the case.
"It’s clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords," wrote Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, in a post on the Google blog.
"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," he said, adding the company was "mortified" by what had happened.
Time for ICO action?
While several governments have taken action over the privacy intrusion, the UK data watchdog, the UK Information Commissioner's Office, merely called for the collected data to be deleted.
Its investigation consisted of viewing a few samples of the data at Google's London office, and the watchdog concluded at the time that the bits collected were not "meaningful".
Google's admission - forced by other regulators - means the ICO now must reconsider its own findings. "Whilst the information we saw at the time did not include meaningful personal details that could be linked to an identifiable person, we have continued to liaise with, and await the findings of, the investigations carried out by our international counterparts," the watchdog said in a statement.
"Now that these findings are starting to emerge, we understand that Google has accepted that in some instances entire URLs and emails have been captured," it said.
The ICO hasn't yet spoken to Google, and is waiting to get more data from the web giant and other regulators before considering action. "We will be making enquires 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."
The ICO is able to fine organisations up to £500,000, but has yet to dish out any such punishment.
Google also faces an investigation by the Met Police, but as of this summer still hadn't decided whether to start a full investigation into the matter.
The news will add more fire to a debate on the topic in parliament on Thursday, organised by Tory MP Rob Halfon - who has repeatedly called for the Government to take action against Google over the data blunder.
