UK ICO: Let Google Destroy the Data

Instead of wasting time, effort and valuable resources on pursuing Google with a criminal case –in regards to the unsecured WiFi network data that has been collected by the street car, the Information Commissioner has seen it fit to allow Google to pursue its own solutions in deleting or destroying the reported 600GB of information than has been gathered from the UK and many other countries.

The refusal to “declare war” against Google might be considered by some people as a very passive and irresponsible manner to handle the situation, but with the data already long been in Google’s hands, there is no real way to ensure that interference from any government group would actually help. In many cases, this is a wise step to take.

Google’s Eric Schmidt has already been the first to step up and admit the problem and what the company will do to remedy the situation. Many other countries are already investigating the case against Google as well. With a company that is already cooperating with the government and is pursuing its own internal solution processes, stepping in would only lead to further delays. The Google Street Car was originally meant to make a visual map of streets for the Street View web service as well as log a map of WiFi networks.

Still, the fact that such a problem existed in the first place shows that there is a need for people to become more educated about data security and internet protection practices. Many users of WiFi routers are still not familiar even with the most basic safety procedures. In many ways, the world is lucky that it was Google’s street car that collected the data –at least Google is willing to step up and take the responsibility.

Had the data been collected by another party –one with malicious motives, then that is the real cause for concern.

Tags: Google, Google-Street-View, ICO, Wifi