CorpComms Magazine

What's the story?

Google has come under fire for illegally collecting 600 gigabytes of data from unencrypted WiFi connections, hoovering up sensitive information such as snippets of emails and effectively tracking the whereabouts of its users in more than 30 countries.

Case for the defence?

It was an accident. The data packets were inadvertently picked up by cars taking photographs for the Google Street View tool. The company also argues it acted responsibly in identifying the problem, inviting a third-party to review the incident and ensuring all the data is destroyed.

Time for the naughty chair?

Yep. The alleged blunder has provoked outrage from consumer protection agencies across Europe and the US. Several states have ordered the search engine to turn over some of its wireless cache, whilst Canada is launching a probe into the practice.

It's not the first time Google's got into hot water over privacy issues, is it?

No. This most recent inquiry comes after repeated allegations of privacy invasion concerning the search engine's controversial map-cum-surveillance service 'Google Street View'. Before that, Google took the biscuit with its cookies - tags installed on every registered user's computer that logged data such as search histories.

So, is Big Brother watching you?

Well, yes. Google's reach is hard to underestimate. The search engine receives somewhere in the region of 400 million queries every day. It knows what web pages you visit, what blogs you read. If you use Google Desktop, the corporation knows everything you have on your PC. Meanwhile, the 'Street View' tool now covers over 96 per cent of UK roads.

No overreaction then?

It's fair to say some of this controversy is probably backlash against an extremely successful product. 'I blame Google' may be the new Twitter meme. A Utah pedestrian is even suing Google Maps for £70,000 for unsafe directions after she was hit by a car when crossing the road.

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