Google Avoids Fine Over Street View WiFi Snooping, Ordered To Delete Data

DW100 writes "Google has avoided a fine from the UK's data protection watchdog over its admission that it had failed to delete all Wi-Fi data from its Street View cars last year — but it must ensure it is deleted within 35 days or face a contempt of court action. 'Its investigation into Google reopened last year after further revelations about the data taken from wi-fi networks. During that inquiry, additional discs containing private data were found.Google had previously pledged to destroy all data it had collected, but admitted last year that it had "accidentally" retained the additional discs. ... [The ICO said], "The detriment caused to individuals by this breach fails to meet the level required to issue a monetary penalty."'"

Comments

Detriment caused

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

From the BBC News article:

The FCC levelled heavy criticism at the company, saying it had "deliberately impeded and delayed" the investigation for months.

Its investigation found that data had been discovered in 30 countries, and included "complete email messages, email headings, instant messages and their content, logging-in credentials, medical listings and legal infractions, information in relation to online dating and visits to pornographic sites".

Assuming the UK was among those countries, if that list of privacy invasions is not sufficient to merit even a token fine from a privacy watchdog, I'm not sure what is. :-(

Re:Detriment caused

[msauve]

"list of privacy invasions"

You do realize this was WiFi, so that the collected "private" data was being broadcast in the clear, right? There's a reasonable expectation of privacy if you bother to encrypt your WiFi, but running it wide open?

If you send radio signals off your property, they should be "fair game" for anyone who can receive them.

Re:Detriment caused

[msauve]

No, it's more like standing naked by your front window, then complaining because someone takes a picture from the street. Setting up minimal WiFi encryption on consumer wireless equipment has never been a task requiring a "capable expert."

Re:Detriment caused

[Qwavel]

No, it said that they weren't fined for this latest chapter (the failure to delete). They have been forced to pay enumerable fines and settle even more class action lawsuits. When you break the law in almost every country in the world, you pay, so people should stop pretending that they just got a slap on the wrist.

You have grabbed the most sensational clips you could find (the data involved was random, so yes, it included anything you can think of), that is actually about a different chapter of this saga (this is about the failure to delete).

Most importantly, you left out the part that distinguishes this from other privacy invasions. None of that data was ever made public. No one has ever established that Google even intended to collect the data. No one has even come up with a plausible use for these random chunks of data. I've seen it written that Google themselves blew the whistle on this issue, but I don't know that for a fact myself (the origins of its discovery are missing details).

So, really you are just muck-raking, and in a rather misleading way.

Horse shit

[fnj]

So people are running UNSECURED wi-fi? That's fine, I personally don't see anything wrong with that so far.

And people are concerned and upset that their wi-fi is noted in a database? I can see why they might be ... however ...

But the same person is running UNSECURED wi-fi AND at the same time is concerned and upset that their wi-fi is noted in a database? That's horse shit. That is real stupidity.