Google is facing an inquiry into claims that it deliberately harvested information from millions of UK home computers.
The Information Commissioner data protection watchdog is expected to examine the work of the internet giant’s Street View cars.
Two years ago, it was claimed Google’s Street View cars were fitted with software that could intercept communications like emails, chat messages and photographs.
Furthermore, this information, known as “payload data”, was then transferred from the UK to the USA, where it was stored on discs.
According to Google, all of that happened purely by accident!
If it was an accident, why would staff at one of the world’s leading hi-tech companies go to the trouble and expense of designing a piece of software that can collect and store emails, photographs and texts from networks that are not secured by a password?
The UK authorities believed the company then, but now there is a fresh investigation. Correspondence handed over to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggests that the team managing the project was told of their software’s capability and was even advised to seek legal advice.
Google’s spying was not confined to the UK.
In France, Holland and Canada, investigators found Google had amassed enough payload data to fill six floors of a building.
The Canadians found medical info, complete email messages, instant messages and chat sessions.
The Dutch discovered passwords, entire documents and banking transactions.
The French came across emails from a married man and a married woman seeking an extra-marital affair and details of visits to websites that revealed sexual preferences.
Some accident! You have to wonder why Google would create spying software and who they intended to sell our information to.
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