Guilty: Google Street View Breached Privacy.
Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:53 pm
Guilty: Google Street View Breached Privacy
By Lucie McInerney
"Internet giant Google has been found guilty of breaking privacy laws by the Information Commission"
In 2008, the firm sent out squads of specially-fitted cars to film neighbourhoods for their Street View service.
But Google did not disclose that it downloaded personal data from many households using networks which were not password-secured.
Information commissioner Christopher Graham confirmed that "the collection of this information was not fair or lawful and constitutes a significant breach of the... Data Protection Act."
The company will be subject to an audit of paperwork and procedures as opposed to the expected £500,000 fine.
"The most appropriate and proportionate action in these circumstances is to get written legal assurance from Google that this will not happen again - and to follow this up with an ICO audit," Mr Graham continued.
The Street View project has been a contentious issue for Google with privacy regulators in several countries lodging complaints. It was the resulting investigations which forced Google's admission about this breach.
Last week Italian prosecutors confirmed the Street View application was under scrutiny for possible violations and Spain has confirmed two investigations into the programme.
Street View has caused controversy since its inception over a year ago
The service initially sparked controversy after its launch in the UK when a man was filmed leaving a sex shop.
The firm now maintains that 99.9% of faces and car registration plates are automatically blurred by the programme.
Peter Barron, head of privacy at Google, told Sky News they were "sorry (they) collected this data mistakenly... but were working very closely with the ICO and on (their) internal procedures to make sure (they) have much tougher measures as regards privacy."
Mr Barron stressed that the information had never been used in any Google product and that it was now the company's priority to delete it.
By Lucie McInerney
"Internet giant Google has been found guilty of breaking privacy laws by the Information Commission"
In 2008, the firm sent out squads of specially-fitted cars to film neighbourhoods for their Street View service.
But Google did not disclose that it downloaded personal data from many households using networks which were not password-secured.
Information commissioner Christopher Graham confirmed that "the collection of this information was not fair or lawful and constitutes a significant breach of the... Data Protection Act."
The company will be subject to an audit of paperwork and procedures as opposed to the expected £500,000 fine.
"The most appropriate and proportionate action in these circumstances is to get written legal assurance from Google that this will not happen again - and to follow this up with an ICO audit," Mr Graham continued.
The Street View project has been a contentious issue for Google with privacy regulators in several countries lodging complaints. It was the resulting investigations which forced Google's admission about this breach.
Last week Italian prosecutors confirmed the Street View application was under scrutiny for possible violations and Spain has confirmed two investigations into the programme.
Street View has caused controversy since its inception over a year ago
The service initially sparked controversy after its launch in the UK when a man was filmed leaving a sex shop.
The firm now maintains that 99.9% of faces and car registration plates are automatically blurred by the programme.
Peter Barron, head of privacy at Google, told Sky News they were "sorry (they) collected this data mistakenly... but were working very closely with the ICO and on (their) internal procedures to make sure (they) have much tougher measures as regards privacy."
Mr Barron stressed that the information had never been used in any Google product and that it was now the company's priority to delete it.