Google to provide (your private), data to European authorities

[Clarrie]

And not just Canada and Germany et al, but Australian police are also investigating as such unauthorised data interception is a criminal offence. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...c/10249091.stm

Such "accidental" breaches can't really be accidental - after all, just how many cameras are equipped with the technology to accidentally gather all that "payload data"?

Somebody, somewhere, within Google took a decision to gather that data.

The greatest concern here is not just this specific case, but that Google does not seem to have any clear pre-established internal privacy strategies in place, of if they do, they are either being ignored by staff, or are not in line with the telecommunications or privacy laws of the countries in which they operate. Either way, for a company that is all about gathering, organising, and disseminating data, this is a pretty scary thing.

[Martinscholes]

And not just Canada and Germany et al, but Australian police are also investigating as such unauthorised data interception is a criminal offence. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...c/10249091.stm

Such "accidental" breaches can't really be accidental - after all, just how many cameras are equipped with the technology to accidentally gather all that "payload data"?

Somebody, somewhere, within Google took a decision to gather that data.

The greatest concern here is not just this specific case, but that Google does not seem to have any clear pre-established internal privacy strategies in place, of if they do, they are either being ignored by staff, or are not in line with the telecommunications or privacy laws of the countries in which they operate. Either way, for a company that is all about gathering, organising, and disseminating data, this is a pretty scary thing.

If they did this in the UK, it would be in breach of the Data Protection Act, surely?

[bine]

For handing data in to the 'legitimate' authorities, perhaps read passing it on to the likes of GCHQ in Cheltenham. I expect they are rubbing their hands in glee, every identifiable wi-fi network in the UK, I doubt that password protection is an issue, its the location / MAC that will be useful along with a handy picture of the likely house, which cars are parked outside, perhaps who's in the area.

One small set of data for Google, one giant step forward for intelligence agencies.

Exactly. I wouldn't be surprised if this so-called outrage over Google having this data were simply a political tactic to get them to give it up, which appears to be working. Personally, from my experience with Google and my experience with 'legitimate' authorities, I feel FAR more confident with the data in Google's hands.

[rogercooke]

There is a possibility of a deliberate decision for collecting this data at some level in Google. Higher Management would not encourage it for the bad publicity as well as the leverage it gives governments to take action against it. Especially just after the Buzz problems. Obviously, there are no or weak checks and balances as far as their engineers are concerned.

[bine]

As for it being "accidental". I tend to believe this on a certain level. Sure, there's an engineer within Google who wrote data capture code. Did he know this code was going to be used in the production version? Maybe, maybe not. Did the execs in charge of privacy know about this testing code and/or have a chance to assess whether it should be used in production or not? Perhaps not.

Google's data capture philosophy which has led them to be so successful is to capture everything now and see how it can be used later. This seems like a good idea, so long as there are ethical decisions involved - like who NOT to give the data to!

I can understand this because of my government expenses project, which has accumulated a database with a wealth of information that could easily be used for nefarious purposes. In fact, I have already been contacted by such nefarious entities who were looking for a certain kind of information. I promptly denied having such information and then immediately removed any trace of it from the published reports.

[alphaomega]

Did someone consider the rice of Google? Isn't it amazing how it rose in such short time? Just consider the wast amount of the latest and best technologies. Enormous computer network world wide. Are people not suspicious about the people behind the front? Who is Google? Who financed Google? What purpose is Google serving. I personally think the serach engine is just a front for other activities. Just think what opportunities to extract information Google has. Information = power.

[C0ldf1re]

... Who is Google? Who financed Google? What purpose is Google serving...

Even if Google started innocently, it is at the mercy of one of the most dictatorial governments ever seen. With very little effort, the US government could seize all Google data, and squeeze any information needed to interpret that data from Google staff. Or perhaps they would not do it openly. With the right pressure and bribes, the government could secretly control Google. Or perhaps they already do.

[bine]

Bribes? Are you kidding me? How exactly are you going to bribe a GOOGLE employee?!?! What would you offer him? Gold-pressed latinum? Come on guys, this is getting a little off the wall here.

[C0ldf1re]

... How exactly are you going to bribe a GOOGLE employee?!?! ...

Touche! Google employees are unbribeable. Just like politicians.

[kgun]

Good one!

Especially for us where the majority is

1. Against Eu
2. and now against Google?

Related WPW thread:

Police to investigate Google street view info gathering

Is Norway now the only country that defends privacy?

Will we like gravity become a member of EU and accept Google's selfproclaimed data storage directive?

Is there a better planet close to the earth?