ICO: Google StreetView Did Not Collect Significant Personal Information
The UK’s information Commissioner Office says Google did not collect “significant” personal information when it’s StreetView software accessed unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
The claim follows a review of some of the data collected by Google, who said the information was collected “mistakenly” due to a piece of “rogue code”.
Revelation that Google had collected data from unsecured networks came after German authorities requested more information on Google’s StreetView software, which takes pictures of the street and creates maps.
A preliminary examination of data by the French data protection agency said that Google had harvested personal information such as passwords, but the ICO says: “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 responded to the results of the investigation by saying they “welcome the news that the data protection authorities in the UK have found that the payload data contained no meaningful personal information.”
“As we said when we announced our mistake, we did not want and have never used any payload data in our products or services.”
Posted by Daniel Heaton
on Jul 30 2010. Filed under Latest News, Technology.
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