France Fines Google $142,000 For Collecting Private Information Through Street View Cars

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been fined 100,000 euros ($142,000) by France for collecting private information while grabbing pictures from the Google Street View cars. Google launched Street View in 2007, which offers panoramic views of cities and towns. The service was not well received in Europe. In 2010, Google admitted wrongdoing for accidentally picking up private unencrypted data such as passwords and e-mails through open WiFi connections. CNIL, the National Commission for Information Freedom, said that Google made a pledge to erase the private data. The fine was for “unfair collection” of information. [AFP]

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