An investigation by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner found that Google violated Canadian privacy laws when one of its Street Car engineers mistakenly collected data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks while photographing various towns across the country.
Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, said that Google collected private information that could include e-mail addresses, e-mails, usernames, passwords and sensitive contact information. Canadian privacy officials investigated a sample of the data collected at Google’s Mountain View, CA, headquarters to determine what types of information were collected.
The Privacy Commissioner’s Office has told Google to either delete or secure by February 1 any unlawfully collected information.
