Google collected private information from public Wi-Fi networks
in 2010, and the privacy headaches have been haunting the company ever
since. Street View cars were supposed to collect generic public
information about Wi-Fi networks for mapping purposes. Instead, they
ended up collecting private info sent over those networks as well, an
activity Google says was a mistake. The networks were open to the
public, like those in coffee shops.
The worst-case scenario would have been an actual criminal prosecution over the incident—something that wasn't really considered in the US, where the issue was investigated by the Federal Trade Commission and ultimately dropped.
A prosecution got mighty close to taking place in Hamburg, Germany, however. There, city prosecutors were ready to put Google officials in the dock as late as last month. No one in Mountain View needs to book any flights though, because the Germans have now said that's not going to happen.
In explaining their decision, German prosecutors reiterated what's
already known: Google collected the information by accident, from public
networks, and with no bad intent. Therefore, the collection didn't
violate German law, according to ZDNet's report on the decision.
European nations have stricter privacy laws than the US, and Germany is on the short list of nations most concerned about violations of its citizens' privacy. In Germany and Switzerland, individual businesses or homeowners can opt to have their property "blurred" on services like Street View.
In the US, while the FTC was quickly convinced Google didn't do anything wrong, the FCC launched a longer-lasting investigation. That inquiry cleared Google of serious wrongdoing, but the FCC fined the company $25,000 for obstructing the investigation. Google made the FCC's final report public earlier this year.
The worst-case scenario would have been an actual criminal prosecution over the incident—something that wasn't really considered in the US, where the issue was investigated by the Federal Trade Commission and ultimately dropped.
A prosecution got mighty close to taking place in Hamburg, Germany, however. There, city prosecutors were ready to put Google officials in the dock as late as last month. No one in Mountain View needs to book any flights though, because the Germans have now said that's not going to happen.
European nations have stricter privacy laws than the US, and Germany is on the short list of nations most concerned about violations of its citizens' privacy. In Germany and Switzerland, individual businesses or homeowners can opt to have their property "blurred" on services like Street View.
In the US, while the FTC was quickly convinced Google didn't do anything wrong, the FCC launched a longer-lasting investigation. That inquiry cleared Google of serious wrongdoing, but the FCC fined the company $25,000 for obstructing the investigation. Google made the FCC's final report public earlier this year.
Written by Arslan Asif
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