[LINK] US State backs down in Google Streetview case

[Jan Whitaker]

"Google won't be taken to court over data gather
January 29, 2011 - 11:05AM

The US state of Connecticut said Friday it would hold negotiations 
with Google over the collection of private wireless data by its 
Street View mapping cars and not take the Internet giant to court.

"This is a good result for the people of Connecticut," Connecticut 
attorney general George Jepsen said in a statement about the 
agreement reached between state authorities and Google.

"The stipulation means we can proceed to negotiate a settlement of 
the critical privacy issues implicated here without the need for a 
protracted and costly fight in the courts, although we are ready to 
do so if we are unable to come to a satisfactory agreement through 
negotiation," Jepsen said.
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Under the agreement, Google will not be required to produce the data 
it collected from unsecured wireless networks in Connecticut. Google 
had objected to turning over the data, raising the prospect of a 
lengthy court battle.

As part of the agreement, Google acknowledged that it collected and 
store data from private unsecured wireless networks, Jepsen said.

The data collected included website addresses, email and other 
"confidential and private information the network user was 
transmitting over the unsecured network while Google's Street View 
car was within range."

Connecticut is joined by 40 other US states in the probe into the 
collection of private wireless data by Street View cars.

Consumer Watchdog, a group which has been highly critical of Google's 
privacy practices, condemned the agreement to settle the issue 
through negotiations and called for congressional hearings on the subject.

"The details of the biggest privacy breach in history shouldn't be 
settled in secret," said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. "This 
makes it clear why Google CEO Eric Schmidt needs to testify under 
oath before Congress about Wi-Spy."

Google pledged to strengthen its privacy and security practices after 
its Street View cars scooped up data from unsecured wireless networks 
in dozens of countries.

Google has since stopped the collection of Wi-Fi data, used to 
provide location-based services such as driving directions in Google 
Maps and other products, by Street View cars."

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/google-wont-be-taken-to-court-over-data-gather-20110129-1a8qa.html

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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