Google was rapped by the privacy watchdog yesterday after it admitted spying on the internet habits of Britons ‘by mistake’.
In an astonishing invasion of privacy, Google’s Street View cars – which have roamed the UK in the last two years taking pictures of every house in the land – ‘ inadvertently’ collected snippets of people’s online activities broadcast over wireless home networks.
Google said the data was collected in short bursts as the cars passed by and the information was never used.
But the Information Commissioner’s Office said the ‘wi-fi snooping’ was a breach of privacy – and called on the internet company to wipe the data.
Last month, it emerged that Google Street View cars were harvesting data broadcast on wi-fi networks.
At the time, the company insisted it had not collected or stored data. But it has now backtracked on its statements.
Google’s head of research Alan Eustace wrote on a blog: ‘It’s now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (ie non-password-protected) wi-fi networks, even though we never used that data in any Google products.
‘However, we will typically have collected only fragments of payload data because our cars are on the move. Someone would need to be using the network as a car passed and our in-car wi-fi equipment automatically changes channels roughly five times a second.’
Google said secure websites, such as those of banks, could not be accessed.
A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner’s Office said Google had committed ‘a breach of people’s personal data’.
He said: ‘Given that the frequency channels change every five seconds, Google considers it unlikely that it has collected anything other than fragments of content.
‘Further, Google asserts that it has not used the data and believes it cannot have caused actual detriment to any individual. In such circumstances there does not seem to be any reason to keep the data concerned for evidential purposes.
‘Therefore, in line with the data protection requirement that personal data should be held for no longer than necessary, we have asked Google to ensure that these data are deleted as soon as reasonably possible.’
It’s not the first time Google has been at the centre of a privacy row.
In 2007, it was accused of a ‘gross invasion of privacy’ when it launched Street View. The service allows anyone in the world to type in a UK address or postcode of almost any home in the UK and instantly see a 360 degree picture of the street – including close-ups of buildings, cars and people.
It has also come under fire for storing details of millions of people’s internet searches.
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Google spies on everyone, and always says it’s “an accident.” Every website you visit has google analytics, and it traces your location down to within a few meters of your house.
Google, Aol, Microsoft and the others are all TRAITORS to free people. All of them put spyware on you.
KISS FREEDOM GOODBYE, AND TELL BIG BROTHER I SAID TO GO FUCK HIMSELF.
“However, we will typically have collected only fragments of payload data because our cars are on the move.”
what about when they are not on the move?
what kind of cars they’ve got? spy labs on the move?