Google Street View has again come under fire for violating people’s privacy, prompting an apology and announcement of tighter privacy controls on the Official Google Blog on Oct. 22.
Google admitted it had mistakenly collected emails and passwords from unsecured Wi-Fi data using its Street View cars in May. Now, following a privacy violation ruling by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner last week, the search engine giant is taking new measures to strengthen its privacy controls.
Alan Eustace, senior vice-president for Engineering and Research, said on Google’s blog that the company has been looking at “how to strengthen our internal privacy and security practices, as well as talking to external regulators globally about possible improvements to our policies.”
Italy has perhaps taken the strongest stance against the privacy breaches. On Monday, the Rome-based national privacy regulator threatened Google with fines of up to 180,000 euros ($US252,000) each time it photographs neighborhoods without warning residents on Google’s website and via local papers and radio of the presence of its cameras.
“Google cars will have to be clearly marked by means of visible stickers or signs to unambiguously signify that pictures are being taken for the purposes of Street View,” the Italian privacy authority said in a statement.
Google’s global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, said developers were seeking to construct a “privacy design document” to prevent abuse of user information, according to Reuters. Fleischer also expressed surprise that users are not making the most of the site’s privacy settings.
The California-based company hopes to expand Street View in 20 countries. However, ongoing concerns over invasion of privacy have created strong resistance in some areas, AFP reported.
Google admitted it had mistakenly collected emails and passwords from unsecured Wi-Fi data using its Street View cars in May. Now, following a privacy violation ruling by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner last week, the search engine giant is taking new measures to strengthen its privacy controls.
Alan Eustace, senior vice-president for Engineering and Research, said on Google’s blog that the company has been looking at “how to strengthen our internal privacy and security practices, as well as talking to external regulators globally about possible improvements to our policies.”
Italy has perhaps taken the strongest stance against the privacy breaches. On Monday, the Rome-based national privacy regulator threatened Google with fines of up to 180,000 euros ($US252,000) each time it photographs neighborhoods without warning residents on Google’s website and via local papers and radio of the presence of its cameras.
“Google cars will have to be clearly marked by means of visible stickers or signs to unambiguously signify that pictures are being taken for the purposes of Street View,” the Italian privacy authority said in a statement.
Google’s global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, said developers were seeking to construct a “privacy design document” to prevent abuse of user information, according to Reuters. Fleischer also expressed surprise that users are not making the most of the site’s privacy settings.
The California-based company hopes to expand Street View in 20 countries. However, ongoing concerns over invasion of privacy have created strong resistance in some areas, AFP reported.
