Google data protection breach was ‘significant’

News
By Tom Brewster
published

The ICO says Google committed a serious breach of UK Data Protection Act during its Street View operation, but no fine has been imposed.

The search giant claimed it had taken the data by accident. According to the search giant, an engineer had written a piece of code in 2006 for an "experimental Wi-Fi project", which was unwittingly included in software used by the organisation's mobile team when it was collecting "basic Wi-Fi network data" a year later.

Tom Brewster
Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.