October 23, 2010

Google admits it also stole emails and passwords

Google has been under investigation for the past couple of months for 'accidentally' stealing WiFi data on its Google Street View cars. The cars were designed to take snapshots of streets to help improve its feature, expanding it to additional countries including Canada and Germany. The data was captured through an experimental project that Google accidentally included in its street view cars.

However, the Google street cars took more than just photos, it also took personal information, like user IDs. According to a report by Reuters, Google stole more than just the details it originally claimed, it also captured full emails, URLs and even passwords.

The original report left out these important details, and some countries have even allowed Google to delete this data, including the UK. The Canadian privacy commissioner is still investigating the matter, as Google did break Canadian privacy laws.

Google did claim that some of the data collected was fragmented, because the cars were always moving, but some information that was captured was complete. Google went on to say that it was enhancing its privacy training for their engineers and important groups within the company.

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