Tech giant faces hefty penalty for secretly gathering user data through Street View service
In a recent development, Google has agreed to pay a total of $7 million to 38 US states for collecting personal data from WiFi networks without permission. The agreement comes after a two-year investigation led by the state of Connecticut, on behalf of 37 other states.
The violation of privacy laws was first raised by German data protection authorities in 2010. Since then, Google has faced legal challenges in various countries.
In Argentina, a court ruled that Google violated the privacy of a man by capturing private images of him in his yard, leading to a fine or compensation. This is the only confirmed instance of Google being fined for Street View WiFi data collection violations.
Google initially denied that its Street View cars collected personal data, including email addresses and passwords. However, the company later admitted that the data was collected, attributing it to a "rogue" engineer at the company.
Google has promised to delete any personal data collected about residents of the 38 states and has agreed to educate its employees and run a nationwide campaign to inform consumers of how to secure wireless networks.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Officer (ICO) initially let Google off with a warning and an order to improve its privacy practices, under the assumption that the data was collected by mistake. However, a report by the US Federal Communications Commission found that multiple Google employees knew about the data snooping. As a result, the ICO reopened its investigation on the matter, but has yet to report its findings.
Google's annual revenue in 2012 was $2.98 billion. Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen found the $7 million fine "significant" for Google, but emphasized that the agreement's importance goes beyond financial terms. Jepsen stated that consumers have a reasonable expectation of privacy and that the agreement ensures Google will not collect personal information without permission in the future.
The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) reported that Google has been found guilty of violating laws in "at least" nine countries in collecting data for its Street View service. Google works hard to get privacy right, but admitted it did not in this case.
Sources:
- Argentina court orders Google to pay damages for Street View privacy breach
- Google fined €50 million in France over Street View privacy breach
- Google faces data privacy, censorship, and surveillance-related issues in multiple countries
- Google agrees to pay $7 million to settle Street View WiFi data collection case
- Google Street View WiFi data collection: A timeline of events
- Google's ongoing issues with data privacy, particularly in its business operations such as Street View, have extended to multiple countries, including the data-and-cloud-computing realm, as evidenced by the €50 million fine Google faced in France.
- In an effort to ensure the protection of consumer privacy in the future, Google has agreed to delete any personal data collected in the 38 US states involved in the $7 million settlement, demonstrating a commitment to improving its finance and technology practices in respect to data collection.
