Posts Tagged ‘Google street view’
November 4th, 2010
The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, has said that Google committed a “
significant breach” of the Data Protection Act when it collected personal data in the development of its Street View product. The Internet giant gathered information that included
full emails and passwords. Graham refused to impose a financial penalty on the company, but said that Google must sign an undertaking to ensure such breaches do not happen again. In July, the Information Commissioner’s Office had ruled that
no data breach had occurred. The culture minister, Ed Vaizey, also said last week that the Metropolitan Police had
dropped its investigation into the breaches.
October 25th, 2010
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Britain’s privacy watchdog,
has reopened its investigation into Google Street View after the company admitted it copied personal data. Google is facing similar pressures from privacy watchdogs in other countries, including
Spain,
Germany, and
Canada. In May, the ICO had investigated revelations that Google had gathered unprotected information but it
concluded that no “significant” personal details had been collected. The renewed scrutiny stems from
Google’s admission, following analysis by other privacy bodies, that they had harvested more information than previously thought.
October 21st, 2010
Google has been found in
violation of Canadian privacy law. On Tuesday the Privacy Commissioner of Canada,
Jennifer Stoddart, stated in a
news release on the Commissioner’s website that Google’s Street View mapping cars had unintentionally gathered personal information about Canadian citizens. This collection of citizens information was a “serious violation of Canadians’ privacy rights,” said Stoddart.
October 19th, 2010
The Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) has
filed a lawsuit against Google. Following an investigation launched in May, the Street View service has been charged with violating the country’s data protection laws. In August, a judge decided to investigate a
similar complaint made by another association (APEDANICA). AEPD says that, if found guilty, Google could be hit with fines of between 84,000 and 840,000 dollars for each offence. Street View has proved controversial in a number of countries, including
Germany,
Switzerland and the
UK.
August 27th, 2010
A
proposed data privacy law could prevent companies from checking potential employees’ Facebook profiles. Employers will be allowed to search applicants on Google, but the use of social networking sites in the selection process will be banned. The new legislation will also require companies to notify employees about any monitoring of telephone calls or emails. The German cabinet is set to approve the law on
25 August.
May 13th, 2009
Greece’s data protection agency has banned Google from expanding its Street View service in the country, pending “additional information” from the firm. Read more
here
April 23rd, 2009
The UK’s Information Commissioner has said there will be no move to censor Google Street View, despite admitting it carries a small risk of privacy invasion.
Read more
here
