Scotland Yard Considers Google WiSpy Investigation

Scotland Yard is considering whether to launch a formal investigation into Google’s accidental collection of data from unsecured wireless networks, by its fleet of Street View vehicles, following a complaint from pressure group Privacy International

“We have received a complaint regarding alleged access to online activities over unprotected home and business Wi-Fi networks and the matter is under consideration,” a Scotland Yard spokesman told eWEEK Europe UK. “It is yet to be determined what, if any, offences may have occurred.”

The spokesman denied media reports that a formal investigation has already begun.

The complainant: Privacy International

The police spokesman confirm that it had received one single complaint, but would not confirm the identity of the person or organisation behind it.

However, London-based pressure group, Privacy International, which published a release claiming Google broke laws has told eWEEK Europe that it was responsible for the complaint

“The situation with Google, as I understand it, is that the company has been advised to say nothing more about the incident, apart from the simple explanation it was an innocent mistake,” Simon Davies, a director at Privacy International told eWEEK Europe.

“Aside from that, we have heard nothing more from the company,” Davies said. “So the only way we can uncover more information about this, is to get law enforcement officials to look at it. From our perspective, the ‘innocent mistake’ explanation never held water. When we said that explanation didn’t make sense, we waited a month but heard nothing from Google, so we went to the police.”

But what about all the other ongoing investigations?

“The police have a responsibility to investigate any alleged crime under British laws, that happen here,” Davies told eWEEK Europe UK. “The police have no choice in whether to investigate here. They will more than likely rely somewhat on the technical analysis from countries like France and Germany. Doing a full analysis of the data is a resousce issue, but the British police will no doubt have to do that for evidential purposes, rather than relying on overseas data.”

Davies felt that this matter could well ultimately go to multiple teams and could be elevated to a national process, away from the current London-focus.

“The police are likely to to talk to Google after taking legal advice,” Davies said. “They are likely to talk to Google’s British chief Matt Brittin, as he is operationally responsible. Questions will need to be asked if anyone in Britain knew about the Wi-Fi collection, and did Google do due diligence on the data they took, so there is a host of questions to answered.”

Google’s War Driving

The incident began earlier this year, when Google admitted to “accidentally” storing unencrypted data from Wi-Fi networksas its Street View cars passed by. In May it began adding SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption for its search engine, as a direct response to its “accidental” collection of users’ personal information.

That did little to halt the furore over the incident as government authorities announced they would investigate the incident. Countries such as Germany, France and Spain in Europe have launched investigations. A Congressional oversight committee has asked Google to explain how the data was collected, even if unintended.

In an attempt to deflect some of the criticism, Google agreed to surrender the controversial Wi-Fi data it gathered to European authorities and US officials.

Google has gone on record to say that it did not use any of the 600 gigabytes of data it accidentally snatched out of the air from Wi-Fi networks and it also said that it has broken no laws.

However, that has not stopped Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal from leading a multistate investigation into the matter.

Google’s case has been not helped after it emerged that it is currently attempting to patent data gathering technology. A patent application document from January outlines a method devised by Google for gathering and analysing data sent via wireless access points.