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Google Fined over Unauthorised Wi-Fi Data Harvesting
Published on:
Google has agreed to pay US$7 million in fines to a number of US States to settle a data privacy lawsuit.
Between 2008 and March 2010, Google took photographs for its Street View service and for use in future geolocation services. At the same time, Google collected and stored information including email and text messages, passwords, and web histories being transmitted over unsecured Wi-Fi networks without consent from the consumer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Google has agreed to secure and destroy the information it collected, launch an employee training program to ensure its employees understand how to protect consumers and their information, conduct a national advertising campaign to educate consumers on how to protect their private information, and pay a US$7 million fine to the states involved.
"Consumers have a right to protect their vital personal and financial information from improper and unwanted use by corporations like Google," said New York Attorney General Schneiderman. "This settlement addresses privacy issues and protects the rights of people whose information was collected without their permission. My office will continue to hold corporations accountable for violating the rights of New Yorkers."
The settlement acknowledges that the information Google collected may have included confidential or private information being transmitted to or from private homes while the Street View cars were driving by. Google has since disabled or removed both the equipment and software used to collect such data from its Street View vehicles, and agreed not to collect any additional information without notice and consent.
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