France fines Google ?100,000 for Street View privacy violations, then mulls striking for no apparent reason

Ah, France. Land of beautiful beaches, a respectable railway system, and more unexplained delays and work stoppages than anywhere else in the developed world. Oh, and a primary airport that forces you to use "tickets" to buy food from certain vendors and refuses to complete a CDG -> JFK flight on schedule. Gripes aside, it seems that at least one thing is getting done today over in The country of the Human Rights, with France's data protection regulator confirming a record €100,000 fine sent over to Google in relation to improper data collection during its Street View sweeps. Granted, El Le Goog has run into privacy issues before on this very matter, but none quite as ginormous as these. The National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties claims that the company's infractions include "collecting passwords and email transferred wirelessly," and its highest ever fined has been levied due to the "economic advantages Google gained from these violations." We're told that the company has two months to appeal the penalty, but as of now, it seems as if Google's frightened to make any comment at all in English. Thank heavens for Translate, right?

France fines Google ?100,000 for Street View privacy violations, then mulls striking for no apparent reason originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/21/france-fines-google-100-000-for-street-view-privacy-violations/

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