Privacy Commissioner of Australia is all set to launch a second investigation into Google's alleged collection of personal information after a report found that the Internet giant's Street View Cars have been harvesting everything from messages to Internet passwords.
In a U.S. Federal Communications Commission report, details have emerged that the company's Street View cars not only photographed streets but recorded wi-fi network details, as well as "names, addresses, telephones, URLs, passwords, email, text messages, medical records, video and audio files."
When the reports were filed to the commission, Google apologized for the collection in 2010 with an official statement saying "we want to reiterate to Australians that this was a mistake for which we are sincerely sorry."
The Australian Privacy Commissioner, an investigative body in Australia, concluded by asking questions to Google to publish the apology. Google was also told to undertake a Privacy Impact Assessment on new Street View data and consult the Australian Privacy Commissioner about the future and personal data collection.
Timonthy Pilgrim, Australian Privacy Commissioner, says that the department will take the next three weeks to assess new reports by the FCC. And after going through with it, the department will take a unanimous decision on whether to take the issue to the Australian Federal Police.
The FCC conducted investigations for the last 17 months and found that a senior manager was warned in the early 2007 that a personal information was being captured while Google's Street View cars trawled the country but it did nothing. Not only stopping at that, the reports also revealed that a Google software programmer who wrote the Street View software repeatedly warned that it collected personal data of the residents when the vehicles passes on the street. And the report called for a personal review and legal action.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
