[Corp. Watch] Google collected more private data than it previously admitted

[Corporation Watch]

French Probe Google Over Privacy

By Stephanie Bodoni

(Bloomberg News, June 17) -- Google recorded passwords and bits of e-mail messages while collecting data for its Street View mapping service, France's privacy watchdog said Thursday after conducting the first outside review of the information.

	Google, under investigation in several nations for possible privacy breaches because of its data-gathering practices for Street View, collected data without the knowledge of the people concerned, said France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL).

	"The recording of such data could put Google in possession of data such as websites visited, the content of messages, or even passwords," the French data-protection agency said in a statement. "That's why the agency went on-site on May 19 for an inspection of the nature of the data collected, and the measures taken to remedy this."

	Officials in Germany, Spain, and other European countries started probing Google after it admitted it had collected data from wi-fi networks. The privacy practices of Google, owner of the world's most-used search engine, have also come under scrutiny in Canada, the Czech Republic, and Italy.

	Last month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it would take a "very close look" at Google's data gathering. The Mountain View company has said it's cooperating with the authorities.

	"We have reached out to the data protection authorities in the relevant countries, and are working with them to answer any questions they have," Google said in an e-mailed statement. "Our ultimate objective is to delete the data, consistent with our legal obligations and in consultation with the appropriate authorities."

	France's CNIL said that it is "the first data-protection authority in the world to get access to the data collected by Google in the case of Street View", and that "it seems the Spanish and German authorities have made the same request."

	Street View allows Google users to click on maps to see photographs of roadsides. 

	On May 19, CNIL officials went on-site to check what Google had collected and what was being done to "remedy to the recording," the agency said, adding that Google complied with its request to hand over a copy of wi-fi data collected and stored in France, as well as technical information on the process.

	During the inspections, the French officials said they "got confirmation that the Street View services provided useful information to other services of Google Maps, and in particular Google Latitude."

	Google said May 17 that it deleted information mistakenly gathered from Wi-Fi networks in Ireland and was aiming to do the same in other countries.