Google Didn't Delete All Street View Wi-Fi Data 150
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the don't-trust-the-recycle-bin dept.
from the don't-trust-the-recycle-bin dept.
nk497 writes "Google is in more trouble over the Street View Wi-Fi data slurping incident. Two years ago Google admitted it had collected snippets of personal data while sniffing for Wi-Fi connections. The UK's data watchdog, the ICO, didn't fine Google, but did demand it delete the collected data. Following the FCC's investigation, the ICO double-checked with Google that the data was deleted, receiving confirmation that it had. Except... it hadn't all been deleted, Google has now admitted. That breaches the deal between the ICO and Google, and the watchdog has said it's in talks with other regulators about what to do next."
Wait... the UK? (Score:5, Interesting)
Google is being fined for collecting "public" data... in the UK. The same UK that has cameras everywhere and all sorts of invasive monitoring, line tapping, you-name-it big-brother we're-watching-you technlogy and laws in place?
I think this ICO organization needs to get their priorities straight.
expectation of privacy (Score:5, Interesting)
This stuff was was broadcast in the clear over public airwaves. That means it has no expectation of privacy. If you want privacy, every WAP I've ever heard of provides encryption. Turn it on, and you DO have an expectation of privacy, so if Google was decrypting it, then they should be punished.
Must we design the whole world to protect the least competent people from themselves?
Re:Wait... the UK? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yet I always hear the British apologists saying that so many of the cameras in London are privately owned? Which is it?
Re:They must think we are idiots. (Score:2, Interesting)
That's just it. You people are completely ignoring what actually happened. Google voluntarily alerted the authorities that they had gotten the data. The anti-Google PR machine caught wind of it and now you have this mess. The government is mad because Google refused to hand over the data. If you think it is about "protecting peoples' privacy" then you are a fool.