GOOGLE is facing further investigation into claims
that it covered up the fact its Street View cars
‘trampled on’ people’s privacy. The internet giant
is accused of collecting millions of users’ emails,
passwords, browsing histories and other sensitive
information using software deliberately written by
an engineer. Despite Google deleting all the data
collected from unsecured wi-fi networks in Britain
in 2010, the Information Commissioner’s Office
has decided to reopen its investigation after a US
watchdog revealed the engineer’s work. Nick
Pickles, director of civil liberties campaigners Big
Brother Watch, said: ‘The ICO is absolutely right to
re-open the investigation and must now take
every step to get to the bottom of just how many
British people’s privacy was trampled on by
Google. Breaching the Data Protection Act is a
criminal offence and the law should be applied to
Google in the same way as any other company or
individual.’ A Google spokesman said the
company was happy to answer the ICO’s questions
and that project users had ‘never even looked at’
the payload data which had been gathered.
