As Google Hands Over Collected WiFi Data In Germany, France And Spain, Ireland Tells Google To Destroy It

from the mixed-messages dept

Fri, Jun 4th 2010 4:56pm — Mike Masnick

We recently covered how the data that Google collected via its Street View WiFi efforts was caught in this weird legal limbo, between privacy laws, data retention laws and rules about destroying evidence. However, it looks like that's getting settled... but in very different ways in different countries. Somehow, Google has worked out a way to hand over the data in Germany, France and Spain... but over in Ireland, Google has been ordered to destroy the data. Not quite sure how this squares with the privacy laws in Germany, France and Spain... but hopefully we'll find out that the data collected by this system was mostly meaningless and we can get over the hype surrounding this whole thing.

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Filed Under: data collection, data retention, europe, france, germany, ireland, privacy, spain, wifi
Companies: google

9 Comments

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NAMELESS ONE, 4 Jun 2010 @ 5:05pm

WHERE is canada?
.....
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- some old guy, 4 Jun 2010 @ 5:31pm
  
  Re: WHERE is canada?
  north america
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- Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2010 @ 6:14pm
  
  Re: WHERE is canada?
  Where you live, IIRC, unfortunately for Canada.
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R.H. (profile), 4 Jun 2010 @ 6:23pm

Ireland has it right
Ireland has the right idea here. If this data is so private then it shouldn't be handed to the government, it should be deleted with just enough oversight to make sure that there are no backups of it anywhere. If it's not private then what's the big deal? Don't bother Google about it let them do as they please.

Now, I personally believe that they probably shouldn't have been network sniffing even on open networks. However, I don't believe that someone doing the equivalent of taking pictures through my window when I failed to close the drapes is doing anything illegal.
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drkkgt (profile), 4 Jun 2010 @ 7:04pm

wake up call
In reality, this should serve as a wake up call to users to secure their networks if they are truly worried about people sniffing their data.
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- Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jun 2010 @ 9:08pm
  
  Re: wake up call
  Who cares if people sniff your data. If you arent doing anything wrong you should not be worried.
  
  /sarc
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  - Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2010 @ 11:16pm
    
    Re: Re: wake up call
    Yeah, it's not like I'm transmitting company confidential data through my wireless connection. Who would be dumb enough to do that?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2010 @ 7:16pm

The only thing I can think of, is maybe Google is treating each nations data based on the court of said nation? So Germany gets the Germany data, while the Ireland data is destroyed? I am sure that would raise complaints, but that seems like the only way to deal with the conflicting demands/laws.
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Trav, 4 Jun 2010 @ 8:10pm

Suss
Hmm Germany and the like want the Data? why do they want it? If it was illegally collected and a piracy concern, would not the government be just as guilty in receiving it? Did they ask Google to destroy their version when they hand the data over?

Ireland has the right idea, all these other governments I am extremely suspicious of why they want the data, rather then it been destroyed.
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