Google ordered to delete Street View data

Google, the world’s largest search engine, has been given 35 days by Britain’s data protection watchdog to remove wireless network data collected by its cars for its Street View service in the country.

Google is legally obliged under yesterday’s enforcement notice to delete any remaining data in the given time, or be held in “contempt of court, which is a criminal offence,” the UK regulator said in a statement.

“The early days of Google Street View,” which allows users to see photographs of roadsides, “should be seen as an example of what can go wrong if technology companies fail to understand how their products are using personal information,” said Stephen Eckersley, head of enforcement at the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

Google has been fined by regulators worldwide over the Street View Wi-Fi breaches, with the French privacy regulator levying a €100,000 penalty in 2011.

Hamburg’s data privacy regulator in April fined Google €145,000 for collecting wireless network data from 2008 to 2010 as its Street View cars took photos.

“We work hard to get privacy right at Google but in this case we didn’t, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue,” said Al Verney, a Brussels -based spokesman for Google.

“The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn’t use it or even look at it. We co-operated fully with the ICO throughout its investigation, and having received its order this morning we are proceeding with our plan to delete the data.”

The UK regulator said it also took into account the discovery of additional disks with data.

Google faces probes by data protection regulators across Europe over changes to harmonise privacy policies for more than 60 products last year. This week France gave Google three months to amend its policy to avoid fines, with five other European countries likely to follow suit by the end of July.

Global regulators this week also wrote to Google chief executive officer Larry Page about possible issues with its web-enabled eyeglasses, called Google Glass.