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.
A convicted sex offender has sued Google after he found that an instant search of his name on Google.fr was accompanied with the words “rapist”, “Satanist”, “convicted” and “prison”. A court in Paris has ordered the internet giant to pay 5,000 euros and remove the search suggestions, which are generated automatically. The plaintiff, who is appealing against a three-month sentence for corruption of a minor, believed the search results were harmful to his reputation. Google has said it will appeal the decision.
Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond has said that internet censorship raises trade barriers for the US, in addition to violating human rights. Drummond added that pressure should be placed on governments in China and Turkey that practice internet censorship.
Google’s Hong Kong question page has been blocked in some parts of mainland China. The page allows users in China to ask questions of any description, acting as an open forum. The Chinese government uses a “Great Firewall” to censor and block all overseas websites that they consider controversial. Google China closed its offices earlier this year after disputes with Beijing about censoring and has since then relocated in Hong Kong.