Germany fines Google 140,000 euros for Street View data breach
Back in 2010, Google to "mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open wi-fi networks" while building its network in Germany. Local prosecutors weighed charges against Google, but in the absence of clear-cut evidence of criminal wrong-doing,聽ultimately against taking legal action. Still,聽Johannes Caspar, the commissioner for data protection in the state of Hamburg, was not content to let the Mountain View company get away that easy.聽
Earlier this week, Mr. Caspar announced that the state of Hamburg was fining Google聽145,000 euros, or $189,000, for "unauthorized wireless recordings." The $189,000, obviously, is a lot of cash for the Average Joe. But it's not a lot of money for Google, which $50 billion in annual revenue in 2012.聽
In fact, in a strongly-worded statement, Caspar that the fine would likely do little to hamper a juggernaut such as Google.聽
"As long as violations of data protection law are penalized with such insignificant sums, the ability of existing laws to protect personal privacy in the digital world, with its high potential for abuse, is barely possible," Caspar wrote in the statement ( to the Times for the translation).聽
This is not the first time Google has been with a fine for breaching European privacy protocols. In 2011, for instance, the company was fined聽100,000 euros, or $142,000, by French regulators who alleged that Google was collecting data from open Wi-Fi network. Google, for its part, has always maintained that the data collection 鈥� both in Germany and in France 鈥� was inadvertent.聽
"We work hard to get privacy right at Google," reps for the search giant 聽today in a statement to PC Magazine. "But in this case we didn't, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue. The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it. We cooperated fully with the Hamburg DPA throughout its investigation."
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