Germany Fines Google Over Street View Wi-Fi Data Snooping http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417992,00.asp
German data protection officials have handed down a 145,000 Euro ($189,000) fine against Google for the unauthorized collection of data traveling over Wi-Fi networks via its Street View cars. Between 2008 and 2010, the equipment attached to Google's Street View vehicles not only collected 360-degree mapping images, but also data from unencrypted wireless networks within range, according to Hamburg data protection commissioner Johannes Caspar. That included emails, passwords, photos, and chat logs. Google has been ordered to delete the offending information. In a translated statement, Caspar said that, in his opinion, the incident was one of the largest data breaches ever, and proved that Google's "internal control mechanisms ... failed in a significant way." Still, Google cooperated with officials and admitted wrongdoing, he said. "We work hard to get privacy right at Google. But in this case we didn't, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue," Google said in a statement. "The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it. We cooperated fully with the Hamburg DPA throughout its investigation." The trouble dates back to May 2010, when Google admitted that its Street View equipment had accidentally collected the offending information, known as payload data. At first Google said it did not know if that data included personally identifiable information, but the company later admitted that it did include entire email addresses, URLs, and passwords. After the admission, Google agreed to make some changes to its privacy practices. It appointed a director of privacy across privacy and engineering; it promised to enhance its core privacy training for engineers and other groups; and added a new process to its existing review system. With those changes in place, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the matter. But the Federal Communications Commission conducted its own investigation and imposed a $25,000 fine in April 2012, but opted not to take enforcement action. Google was also fined 100,000 Euros in France over the data collection. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
