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French Group Finds Improper Google Data Gathering

  • BBC, Monday, June 21, 2010 2:27 PM
Google gathered sensitive data, including user passwords, when putting together its Street View service, claims French data protection agency CNIL, which is now considering prosecuting the search firm. "The data was gathered as Google logged wi-fi hotspots to help it develop location-based services," reports the BBC. Previously, Google said there was 'no harm, no foul' in collecting the data. Along with various other data protection agencies around the world, CNIL reportedly asked Google to disclose copies of the data it gathered to find out if privacy laws had been breached.

CNIL chairman Alex Turk said Google handed the data to the agency on June 4 following an official request, and it was now in the process of combing through the data. Still, Turk told members of the press that an early look showed the presence of "data that are normally covered by... banking and medical privacy rules," according to BBC. Google, for its part, said it was working with French authorities, among others, and would delete the information it had gathered upon request.

Read the whole story at BBC »

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