Google Street View data collection under close governmental examination

22nd May, 2010 by adina
Tags: , , , ,

The FTC was asked by representatives Joe Barton and Edward Markey to begin a formal investigation of Google’s Street View practices. The lawmakers are looking for some answers related to the collection of Wi-Fi data and other personal information from Google. The company’s vehicles have taken pictures over the country to populate the Street View database.

As Barton and Markey said, they are interested in finding out who exactly has access to the data Google has collected, and specifically what information has been gathered, where it is located and what methods were used to store the data. They also asked the FTC to determine whether the actions were illegal or not.

A public response to Barton and Markey’s letter is still awaited from the government agencies, but some sources reveal that the FTC and Department of Justice are already considering formal investigations.

Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, when speaking at the recent company’s I/O conference, did not avoid these accusations and admitted the company made a mistake. He suggested that the error occurred although many internal controls were meant to prevent such problems. The company is now trying to put more controls in place and also bring in third parties to participate in this project.

Brin said that trust was very important to the company and that they were doing everything possible to preserve this trust.


  • Share

 

Readers Comments