Google to Hand Over Data Collected During Photo-Mapping

Posted on Jun 6, 2010

AP / Jae C. Hong

Google said it will hand over wireless network data that was collected by fleets of vehicles shooting photographs for the search giant’s Street View mapping service as it tries to resolve a privacy row with European regulators.

Regulatory agencies elsewhere, including Canada and the U.S., are also probing into the matter. —JCL

Reuters:

Google Inc said on Saturday it would hand over data it collected through wireless networks to French, German and Spanish authorities as it faces mounting legal issues concerning its data collection.

Canada recently launched a probe into Google amid privacy concerns related to the search giant’s Street View service, which uses camera-equipped fleets of cars to take panoramic pictures for its online atlas.

Google has disclosed it collected private data while taking photographs for this product.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has already begun an informal inquiry into the matter. Google has said it would cooperate with authorities.

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