You are currently browsing EDRi's old website. Our new website is available at https://edri.org

If you wish to help EDRI promote digital rights, please consider making a private donation.


Flattr this

logo

EDRi booklets

Google still holds data unlawfully obtained by StreetView

1 August, 2012
» 

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Google noch immer in Besitz unrechtmäßig gesammelter Street-View-Dat...


Google admitted, in a letter addressed on 27 July 2012 to UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as well as to the Irish Data Protection Commission office that it had not yet deleted all the data unlawfully obtained in UK by its Street View cars.

After the discovery in May 2010 that Google had scanned, by means of its Street View cars, the airwaves to identify and map WiFi thus unlawfully obtaining private data, the company was instructed to delete all data thus gathered. According to the present Google’s letter, a “small portion” of the respective data is still in the company’s possession. Google also asked in its letter for instruction on how to proceed in deleting the rest of the data.

"In recent months, Google has been reviewing its handling of Street View disks and undertaking a comprehensive manual review of our Street View disk inventory. That review involves the physical inspection and re-scanning of thousands of disks. In conducting that review, we have determined that we continue to have payload data from the UK and other countries. We are in the process of notifying the relevant authorities in those countries," said Google's privacy counsel Peter Fleischer.

ICO answered the letter on 28 July saying Google should promptly supply the remaining data to the ICO which would "examine the contents" warning at the same time the company that it might be in breach of the terms previously agreed following the investigation into the issue in 2010. Billy Hawkes, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, said Google was supposed to have deleted all the data and considered the situation "clearly unacceptable".

ICO stated that it would coordinate its further actions in the matter with other data protection authorities through the Article 29 Working Party and the GPEN network.

Google admits not all unlawfully-collected Street View data has been deleted (27.07.2012)
http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2012/july/google-admits-not-all-unl...

Google warned on data deletion delay (28.07.2012)
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/google-warned-on-data-deletion...

EDRi-gram 10.12: Google’s Street View privacy breach again in the public eye (20.06.2012)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number10.12/google-steet-view-identificat...

 

Syndicate:

Syndicate contentCreative Commons License

With financial support from the EU's Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme.
eu logo