New Zealand police clear Google of Street View crime

James Etherington-Smith

James is journalist and sub-editor at MyBroadband, and editor at MyGaming. He is an avid gamer with an exceptional knowledge about gaming and related hardware...

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New Zealand police said Thursday there was no evidence that the internet search engine Google had committed any criminal offense while photographing homes and businesses for its Street View mapping service.

Google admitted earlier that it had unintentionally obtained unencrypted Wi-Fi data while collecting panoramic digital images for the service and Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff referred the matter to the police in June.

Detective Senior Sergeant John van den Heuvel, of the Police National Cyber Crime Centre, said in a statement that an investigation found no offence had been committed and referred the issue back to the commissioner for further consideration.

He said it was a timely reminder about the need for Wi-Fi security. “Anyone using Wi-Fi needs to ensure they have appropriate security measures in place,” he said.

“People should not underestimate the risk that information they broadcast might be accessed by others, either inadvertently or for more sinister purposes.”

Google has admitted collecting public Wi-Fi data in more than 30 countries since 2008 when it started using cars equipped with rooftop cameras to shoot panoramic digital images for its Street View service.

Fears about the practice were first raised by privacy watchdogs in Germany, Britain and Australia.

Google said it did not collect any information about householders and could not identify individuals from the data collected.

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