Internet giant Google has been threatened with criminal proceedings in Britain over personal data collected from wifi networks.
The internet giant has been handed an enforcement notice by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after further personal data unlawfully collected by its Street View cars was discovered. The watchdog has demanded that it destroy four discs containing information it took from unsecured wifi networks.
Google had previously pledged to destroy all data collected in this manner but admitted last year that it had "accidentally" retained the additional discs.
The ICO has warned Google that failure to comply with the legal order will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence.
A statement from the ICO said an investigation found that the collection of payload data by the company was the result of procedural failings and a serious lack of management oversight including checks on the code.
But, it added, the investigation also found there was insufficient evidence to show that Google intended, on a corporate level, to collect personal data.
Stephen Eckersley, ICO Head of Enforcement, said "Today's enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within the next 35 days and immediately inform the ICO if any further disks are found. Failure to abide by the notice will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence."
The ICO's decision followed the reopening of its investigation into the Google Street View project in April last year.
The decision followed the publication of a report by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which raised concerns around the actions of the engineer who developed the software previously used by the cars, and his managers.
The decision followed the publication of a report by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which raised concerns around the actions of the engineer who developed the software previously used by the cars, and his managers.
See background to the case below:
