The recent revelation that during its Street View data collection, Google inadvertently collected data relating to wi-fi and emails, passwords and possibly even more came as quite a shock to the public.
If Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, has anything to do with it, the company may soon be compelled to turn that data over to the authorities, so that they can verify exactly what the company knows about your personal information.
This is not the first government action against Google, and since the company has now admitted that among the data it collected covertly with its Street View cars, there is plenty of private information that could pose a risk to the public. It has made efforts to increase security and privacy measures, but attorneys like Blumenthal, representing governments, say that it is not enough.
Blumenthal and others want to have unrestricted access to the data that Google has restricted and stored, ostensibly to verify exactly what information they have. The trouble with that is that it will mean that more people and agencies will have copies of what could be highly sensitive information.
Google has repeatedly stated that the gathering of information like URL’s and emails was not a part of its plan for the Street View program, and that it was accidental. It’s also stated that it will not be using the information for marketing or for any other purposes, and it has provided access to the Federal Trade Commission, who found that Google’s beefed up privacy policies were sufficient to protect consumers.
The Federal Communications Commission is still investigating the matter, to determine whether the company has inadvertently contravened Federal Communications laws, and Google has itself said that it wants to delete the data, but is awaiting government instruction on the way forward. It is unknown what will happen to the data, however, it will continue to be a concern that companies will invade privacy rights, as more and more companies expand onto the Internet with newer technology.
If Google has some of my information, not that there is anything incriminating, but, The government is the last thing I would want to have access to it. I would rather it were just destroyed.