Google ends Street View litigation in the US, agrees to destroy collected data and pay $7 million fine

Google ends Street View litigation in the US, agrees to destroy collected data and pay $7 million fine

Google’s long found itself in hot water where its Street View mapping practices are concerned, running afoul of authorities both in the US and abroad since 2010. But as of today, the search giant’s putting an end to its domestic legal woes, agreeing to dole out $7 million to the 37 states and District of Columbia involved in the litigation. In addition, the company’s pledged to destroy all of the user information (passwords, emails, etc.) it’s thus far collected from unsecured networks — unlawful snooping it claims was carried out by a “rogue engineer.” Google admits to fumbling its dedication to user privacy in this one area and, as part of the settlement, has committed to not only educating its employees on best privacy practices, but to also launch a consumer outreach program addressing these same issues. So, for now, consider this case closed… in the US. Its troubles across the pond are another matter.

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Source: CNet

EU regulators urge Google to modify privacy policy, offers 12 recommendations (update: statement from Google)

EU regulators urge Google to modify privacy policy, offers 12 recommendations

It wasn’t all that long after Google consolidated most of its privacy policies before people wanted clarification on what this meant to users. Even then, EU regulators weren’t satisfied, asking the search giant to hold up a little while it took a proper look at the implications for European citizens. The result of that investigation? Well, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding previously declared it to be in breach of European law, and now the EU is commanding that it be reexamined. The assertion comes in a letter to Mountain View from the EU’s data protection regulators, who feel that consolidating so much personal data into one place creates untenable risks to privacy, and was signed by 24 member states (plus Liechtenstein and Croatia). The regulators also outlined 12 recommendations for Google to follow to bring its policy back to the favorable side of the fence. No official word from Google at this time, but we’ve reached out for comment.

Update: Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel issued the following statement: “We have received the report and are reviewing it now. Our new privacy policy demonstrates our long-standing commitment to protecting our users’ information and creating great products. We are confident that our privacy notices respect European law.”

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EU regulators urge Google to modify privacy policy, offers 12 recommendations (update: statement from Google) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 05:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: We, the digitally naked

Editorial We, the digitally naked

The iPhone 5. It is taller, and has incremental improvements under the hood, and is shiny. (I’m staying away. Typing on glass is wrong.)

Of more import, the smartphone you carry is more than a communication device; it is potentially a government surveillance enabler. To whatever extent that is the case (depending on whose public pronouncements you believe), latent digital snooping was reinforced on the same day as the iPhone event. Two days after that, Google announced its intention to build a “Do Not Track” option into the Chrome browser, giving users some shielding from a different type of rampant surveillance — the type that creepily delivers knowingly targeted ads. The two issues differ in seriousness, but are related as privacy concerns. As our mobile and desktop devices get sexier, we become increasingly naked.

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Editorial: We, the digitally naked originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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