The search engine technology company Google has found to be in ‘significant breach’ of UK laws regarding data protection and privacy.

Whilst collecting images for its ‘Street View’ service last year, Google supposedly inadvertently collected ‘payload data’ from unsecured wireless networks  as part of its efforts to improve location services that work off of nearby wi-fi hotspots.

‘Payload data’ contains snippets of data transferred over unsecured wireless networks. This may include snapshots of email addresses, passwords and other such data.

Google claims the code was left in the software accidentally and has promised to dispose of the data as soon as legally possible. It has consulted local governments everywhere that it has contravened the law to ensure the legality of such an action.

The ICO had previously ruled that no breach had occurred but the rulings in other countries such as Canada have prompted a U-turn. The Information Commissioner says no charges will be pressed but the data protection practices at Google will be audited.

Google has since appointed a ‘Head of Privacy’ to enforce better practice across engineering teams within the company.

Do you have a wireless network? Google may not be the only one listening in. Your network is secured if you have to type a password whenever you connect a new device (be it a laptop, smartphone, games console, etc.) to the network. If your network is unsecured, we recommend you read the manual to find out how to apply a password to it. Unsecured wi-fi hotspots are even more at risk with the release of the Firesheep software which we blogged about recently.

What do you think about Google’s handling of the situation? Leave a comment below.

Share