Google accused of invading privacy
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea police said yesterday that Google Inc violated the country's laws and referred their findings to state prosecutors, adding to a slew of privacy cases the world's largest search engine is facing.
In May, the search engine announced it had inadvertently collected fragments of people's online activities from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries, prompting investigations around the globe.
Google said entire emails, Internet addresses, known as URLs, and passwords were among items its researchers collected.
South Korean police concluded after months of analysis of hard disks obtained from Google that the company's activities broke South Korean laws protecting privacy of telecommunications and protecting information about locations, said Jung Suk-hwa, a police officer in charge of the investigation.
Google again apologized for intruding, but it expressed disappointment over the police announcement.
"While we have repeatedly acknowledged that the collection of payload data was a mistake, we are disappointed with this announcement as we believe Google and its employees did nothing illegal in (South) Korea," said Google Korea spokesman Ross LaJeunesses.
In May, the search engine announced it had inadvertently collected fragments of people's online activities from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries, prompting investigations around the globe.
Google said entire emails, Internet addresses, known as URLs, and passwords were among items its researchers collected.
South Korean police concluded after months of analysis of hard disks obtained from Google that the company's activities broke South Korean laws protecting privacy of telecommunications and protecting information about locations, said Jung Suk-hwa, a police officer in charge of the investigation.
Google again apologized for intruding, but it expressed disappointment over the police announcement.
"While we have repeatedly acknowledged that the collection of payload data was a mistake, we are disappointed with this announcement as we believe Google and its employees did nothing illegal in (South) Korea," said Google Korea spokesman Ross LaJeunesses.
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