Showing posts with label Google Street View. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Street View. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Google to Be Investigated by FCC
FCC to examine Google Street View's collection of personal data
by Josh Halliday
Friday, November 12, 2010 by The Guardian/UK
Google's collection of personal information – including emails and passwords from unsuspecting internet users – by its Street View cars is to be investigated by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Google's collection of personal information – including emails and passwords from unsuspecting internet users – by its Street View cars is to be investigated by the US FCC.
The data capture, which occurred when Google Street View cars took photographs for the panoramic imaging service, has already been ruled unlawful in many countries, including Canada and the UK.
The US communications regulator said it will now examine whether the collection violated the Communications Act, confirming in a statement that consumers affected by "the breach of privacy" will be given the opportunity of redress. The investigation, thought to have been prompted by a complaint from the pressure group Electronic Privacy Information Centre, comes just two weeks after the US Federal Trade Commission dropped its investigation into the data breach.
Google originally acknowledged the collection of personal information in May, posting an apology on the company's blog and claiming only fragments of information were collected.
However, following an investigation by Canada's privacy commissioner, it transpired that the technology giant had collected so-called "payload" data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
Peter Fleischer, the company's global privacy counsel, recently said Google was "profoundly sorry for mistakenly collecting" the sensitive information. "As we have said before, we did not want this data, have never used any of it in our products or services, and have sought to delete it as quickly as possible."
The UK's information commissioner, Christopher Graham, last week ruled that Google had committed a "significant breach" of the Data Protection Act (DPA), announcing that the company will be subject to an audit of its data protection activities in the UK.
Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, announced earlier this month that the Metropolitan police have dropped their investigation into the personal information capture.
Fallout over the data breach has evolved into a wider public scrutiny about users' right to redress when their privacy is invaded by an internet company.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has come in for most of the criticism, with privacy campaigners labelling it an "apologist" for big business and some claiming it to have emerged from the Google payload collection debacle worse than the company itself.
Earlier this week the ICO was accused of being "more Keystone Cops than a protector of our civil liberties" for "not sending technical people" to investigate the payload data at Google's London headquarters in July.
The two senior ICO lawyers who were sent to investigate the data cleared Google of any wrongdoing at the time, only for it later to emerge that the company had committed a breach of the DPA.
by Josh Halliday
Friday, November 12, 2010 by The Guardian/UK
Google's collection of personal information – including emails and passwords from unsuspecting internet users – by its Street View cars is to be investigated by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Google's collection of personal information – including emails and passwords from unsuspecting internet users – by its Street View cars is to be investigated by the US FCC.
The data capture, which occurred when Google Street View cars took photographs for the panoramic imaging service, has already been ruled unlawful in many countries, including Canada and the UK.
The US communications regulator said it will now examine whether the collection violated the Communications Act, confirming in a statement that consumers affected by "the breach of privacy" will be given the opportunity of redress. The investigation, thought to have been prompted by a complaint from the pressure group Electronic Privacy Information Centre, comes just two weeks after the US Federal Trade Commission dropped its investigation into the data breach.
Google originally acknowledged the collection of personal information in May, posting an apology on the company's blog and claiming only fragments of information were collected.
However, following an investigation by Canada's privacy commissioner, it transpired that the technology giant had collected so-called "payload" data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
Peter Fleischer, the company's global privacy counsel, recently said Google was "profoundly sorry for mistakenly collecting" the sensitive information. "As we have said before, we did not want this data, have never used any of it in our products or services, and have sought to delete it as quickly as possible."
The UK's information commissioner, Christopher Graham, last week ruled that Google had committed a "significant breach" of the Data Protection Act (DPA), announcing that the company will be subject to an audit of its data protection activities in the UK.
Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, announced earlier this month that the Metropolitan police have dropped their investigation into the personal information capture.
Fallout over the data breach has evolved into a wider public scrutiny about users' right to redress when their privacy is invaded by an internet company.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has come in for most of the criticism, with privacy campaigners labelling it an "apologist" for big business and some claiming it to have emerged from the Google payload collection debacle worse than the company itself.
Earlier this week the ICO was accused of being "more Keystone Cops than a protector of our civil liberties" for "not sending technical people" to investigate the payload data at Google's London headquarters in July.
The two senior ICO lawyers who were sent to investigate the data cleared Google of any wrongdoing at the time, only for it later to emerge that the company had committed a breach of the DPA.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
FTC ends Google 'Street View' investigation without fines
By John D. Sutter, CNN - October 27, 2010
(CNN) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has called off its investigation of Google's "Street View" mapping program without issusing fines to the company, according to a letter sent from the FTC to Google on Wednesday.
The federal agency had been investigating the fact that Google collected communications, including passwords and e-mails, from people who used open Wi-Fi networks in their homes.
The data collections, which Google says were inadvertent, happened while Google was driving around taking pictures for the Street View function on Google Maps, the Mountain View, California, company said.
The FTC said Google has sufficiently addressed the problem.
"Google has made assurances to the FTC that the company has not used and will not use any of the payload data collected in any Google product or service, now or in the future," David C. Vladeck, the FTC's director for consumer protection, says a letter to Google, which was posted on the FTC's website.
"This assurance is critical to mitigate the potential harm to consumers from the collection of payload data. Because of these commitments, we are ending our inquiry into this matter at this time."
Google, which first mentioned the fact that it had "sniffed" this Wi-Fi data in May, said in a blog post last week that the data included more sensitive information than was previously thought.
"In some instances entire e-mails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords," Alan Eustace, Google's senior vice-president of engineering and research, wrote in a post on that company's blog.
Wednesday's FTC letter acknowledges Google has made changes since investigators uncovered the privacy breaches.
Those changes include "appointing a director of privacy for engineering and product management; adding core privacy training for key employees; and incorporating a formal privacy review process into the design phases of new initiatives."
The FTC letter states: "The company also publicly stated its intention to delete the inadvertently collected payload data as soon as possible."
The United States, however, isn't the only country that's been investigating Google's data collections in relation to Street View, a function of Google Maps that lets users see what streets look like from a man-on-the-street point of view.
More on the international scope of this issue from a CNN explainer:
Last week, the Canadian government said that Google broke the country's law by collecting the data but closed an investigation after calling it "a careless error."
In France, a commission that began investigating this summer ruled that personal data had been collected. Authorities cracked down, even pulling over Street View vehicles to make sure they had stopped collecting personal information.
The Czech Republic has banned Google from expanding the service, and the news sparked an online privacy debate in Germany, where Google is allowing people to opt out of Street View before the images go live.
Great Britain, however, determined that none of the information gathered there was sensitive.
(CNN) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has called off its investigation of Google's "Street View" mapping program without issusing fines to the company, according to a letter sent from the FTC to Google on Wednesday.
The federal agency had been investigating the fact that Google collected communications, including passwords and e-mails, from people who used open Wi-Fi networks in their homes.
The data collections, which Google says were inadvertent, happened while Google was driving around taking pictures for the Street View function on Google Maps, the Mountain View, California, company said.
The FTC said Google has sufficiently addressed the problem.
"Google has made assurances to the FTC that the company has not used and will not use any of the payload data collected in any Google product or service, now or in the future," David C. Vladeck, the FTC's director for consumer protection, says a letter to Google, which was posted on the FTC's website.
"This assurance is critical to mitigate the potential harm to consumers from the collection of payload data. Because of these commitments, we are ending our inquiry into this matter at this time."
Google, which first mentioned the fact that it had "sniffed" this Wi-Fi data in May, said in a blog post last week that the data included more sensitive information than was previously thought.
"In some instances entire e-mails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords," Alan Eustace, Google's senior vice-president of engineering and research, wrote in a post on that company's blog.
Wednesday's FTC letter acknowledges Google has made changes since investigators uncovered the privacy breaches.
Those changes include "appointing a director of privacy for engineering and product management; adding core privacy training for key employees; and incorporating a formal privacy review process into the design phases of new initiatives."
The FTC letter states: "The company also publicly stated its intention to delete the inadvertently collected payload data as soon as possible."
The United States, however, isn't the only country that's been investigating Google's data collections in relation to Street View, a function of Google Maps that lets users see what streets look like from a man-on-the-street point of view.
More on the international scope of this issue from a CNN explainer:
Last week, the Canadian government said that Google broke the country's law by collecting the data but closed an investigation after calling it "a careless error."
In France, a commission that began investigating this summer ruled that personal data had been collected. Authorities cracked down, even pulling over Street View vehicles to make sure they had stopped collecting personal information.
The Czech Republic has banned Google from expanding the service, and the news sparked an online privacy debate in Germany, where Google is allowing people to opt out of Street View before the images go live.
Great Britain, however, determined that none of the information gathered there was sensitive.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Congress Urges FTC to Investigate Google
Congress Urges FTC to Investigate Google Following Revelation that "Street View" Scarfed Wi-Fi Data
Congressmen Joe Barton (R-TX) and Edward Markey (D-MA) wrote to FTC Chairman Liebowitz about Google's collection of consumer's private Wi-Fi transmissions. The House members asked the FTC Chairman to investigate whether Google's actions violate federal privacy laws or consumer protection laws. Google has admitted to collecting email and internet surfing data, but has not clarified the extent or nature of the data collection. The letter from Congress follows an investigation in Europe which revealed that Google's "Street View" vehicles in 30 countries collected not only digital images, but also data transmitted on private wireless networks. EPIC has several privacy complaints pending at the FTC, including one on Cloud Computing.
Congressmen Joe Barton (R-TX) and Edward Markey (D-MA) wrote to FTC Chairman Liebowitz about Google's collection of consumer's private Wi-Fi transmissions. The House members asked the FTC Chairman to investigate whether Google's actions violate federal privacy laws or consumer protection laws. Google has admitted to collecting email and internet surfing data, but has not clarified the extent or nature of the data collection. The letter from Congress follows an investigation in Europe which revealed that Google's "Street View" vehicles in 30 countries collected not only digital images, but also data transmitted on private wireless networks. EPIC has several privacy complaints pending at the FTC, including one on Cloud Computing.
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