Google Experiences Expensive 'Street View' from Paris

Image by N'ayez pas peur !! La Fabrique de Blogs via FlickrMountain View, California-based Internet search giant Google has been socked with a euro100,000 ($142,114) fine by CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes), France's independent administrative authority concerned with privacy issues, over Google's admitted transgressions involving Street View, which offers three-dimensional city maps worldwide.

According to Associated Press, Google has been targeted by 30 countries who complained about Google's purported inadvertent amassing of passwords and other personal data via unsecured wireless networks during the Street View project.  Among nations considering penalties are Great Britain, Australia, the Czech Republic and Canada. [See "TUOL" posts 11/19/10, 10/20/10, 9/22/10, and 7/9/10.]

Google accumulated the data, which it has promised to delete, from 2007 to 2010, capturing the information from camera-mounted cars and bicycles. The penalty assessed against Google is the largest fine ever imposed by CNIL.