Monday, March 21, 2011

Street View: the CNIL fines Google

Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertés (CNIL), the French gendarme of privacy, has condemned the Internet giant Google to pay a fine of 100,000 euros for collecting personal information when setting up Google Street view, its interactive mapping service. To implement this service, Google uses vehicles equipped with cameras and recorders, which circulate in the streets and filming the landscape over 360 degrees.

But these cars do not collect images that "checks carried out in late 2009 and early 2010 led to the CNIL noted that the vehicles deployed on the French territory capture and record not only photographs, but also data moving through the networks Wi-Fi individuals, and unbeknownst to the people concerned, "recalls the CNIL.

Similar controls in other countries have reached similar results. MAPPING OF POINT WI-FI Interest in Google was able to improve its location-based services: mapping the access points Wi-Fi in cities, he may propose, in addition to GPS, a GPS system effective. Initially, Google had denied having collected information on Wi-Fi, then backtrack.

The search engine had then explained that due to a malfunction of the software powering its cars, personal data had been collected by mistake. The search engine says that such data, including logins to websites or emails, have not been used and were removed. The CNIL noted that Google has stopped collecting this data via its cars, she noted however that the mapping of Wi-Fi goes "directly through the mobile users connecting to the service of geolocation Latitude (smartphones, etc.

.), and that without their knowledge. " An "unfair collection under the law," judge the regulator, which always requires access to source code program which equipped cars. The procedure could take a new turn in the months to come. Google maintains that its Latitude geolocation service is not subject to French law, and has therefore refrained from making any statement to the CNIL on this srevice.

The Data Protection Commission contests this view.

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