ICO Could Probe Google Again Over Wi-Spy, After FCC Report

Google could face a new Wi-Spy investigation after the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has told TechWeekEurope that it was reviewing the report published by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published last month.

In its original investigation, the ICO found that although Google had committed a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, it accepted the search giant’s argument that the collection of personal data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks through its Street View cars was inadvertent.

Wi-Spy won’t die

The ICO said that the data did not contain any traceable information and chose to make Google sign an undertaking to ensure that such a breach would not happen again.

“We are currently studying the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) report and consider what further action, if any, needs to be taken,” an ICO spokesperson told TechWeekEurope. “Google provided us with a formal undertaking in November 2010 about their future conduct, following their failure in relation to the collection of Wi-Fi data by their Street View cars. This included a provision for the ICO to audit Google’s privacy practices. The audit was published in August 2011 and we will be following up on it later this year, to ensure our recommendations have been put in place.”

The FCC also cleared Google, but fined it $25,000 (£15,900) for impeding the investigation. Consumer groups labelled the fine as “chump change”, but the investigation uncovered evidence that engineer concerned had circulated details of his plans. Google’s defence rested on the claim that he had acted alone and that senior management was unaware of his actions.

The same engineer declined to cooperate with the investigation, pleading his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, leading the FCC to conclude that it didn’t have the necessary information to decide whether Google had broken any laws.

Google continues to refute the allegations.

“As the FCC notes in their report, we provided all the materials the regulators felt they needed to conclude their investigation, and we were not found to have violated any laws,” it said of the report.

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