Google has been up in arms in recent months over unscrupulous monitoring and hacking of its search engine by the Mainland Chinese government. Today, however, Google finds itself at the other end of the finger pointing, accused by Internet watchdogs of infringing on privacy. The saga gas been going on for weeks, and today the BBC reported that Google could face prosecution in Germany.
[linebreak]
The privacy breach is in relation to Google’s Street View program and the collecting of non-visual data from unencrypted Wifi connections. Privacy International, an Internet advocacy group, has said Google’s coincidental collection of data is the net equivalent of wire tapping without consent.
[linebreak]
German authorities have asked Google repeatedly to hand over alleged hard drives containing illegally collected data. Google has yet to comply. Australia has made a similar request, and New Zealand is the most recent state to make official inquires.
[linebreak]
Google has faced legal challenges in the past over its Street View program, and has come out on the winning side in most cases. Those legalities of the past, however, had to do with images of people and property caught on Street View, not Wifi data. If Google is taken to court, their prosecution could set the privacy precedents of the near future.
People said…