Google fires up Street View cars again

COLLECTOR OF DATA Google has revved up its fleet of Street View cars again, this time without the ability to steal WiFi data.

The company got into hot water after it was found to have snarfed up gigabytes of payload data from open wireless networks all over the world. Not surprisingly, many users and especially governments have been up in arms about this blatant breach of privacy. This led to Google suspending its Street View operations for a while.

Now Google says that it has removed the offending WiFi data collection equipment from the cars and got an independent security firm to confirm that any WiFi related software was also removed. The company now maintains that its fleet of vehicles will no longer suck up WiFi data.

Last week Google was found to have broken Australian federal law through its collection of WiFi payload data. Though it received a limp slap on the wrist by the Australian Privacy Commissioner, the decision left the door wide open for further litigation. It also emerged that in the US, Google might have collected data from US Congress members who were involved in national security issues.

While Google might have mended its ways, removing the offending equipment might not be enough to save the outfit from more litigation, government investigations and penalites around the world. µ