While Google is reported to be cracking down on public leaks, it seems even the government can’t crack the search engine giant for info, at least at the state level- Google flatly turned down the Connecticut Attorney General’s request for personal data on residents captured inadvertently by Google Street View cars.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal didn’t have any qualms about blasting Google for their non-compliance with his request. Blumenthal, a Democrat, released a statement expressing displeasure and mild threats at Google’s unwillingness to turn over the accidentally-collected data culled from unsecured wi-fi networks including email messages and passwords. In part, he said:

“I am disappointed by Google’s failure to comply with my information demands. We will review any information we receive and consider whether additional enforcement steps — including possible legal action — are warranted,” Blumenthal said.

He continued:

“Access to information Google improperly collected from unsecured wireless computer networks may be needed to prevent a repeat,” Blumenthal said.

“Google’s story has changed from claiming it only collected fragments to acknowledging possible capture of full e-mails, making review of the data even more urgent.”

In a statement of their own, Google was dismissive of Blumenthal’s requests, basically saying “come back with a warrant.”

“As we have said before, we are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted networks. As soon as we realized what had happened, we stopped collecting all WiFi data from our Street View cars and immediately informed the authorities,” said a Google spokesperson in an e-mailed statement.

“We did not want and have never used the payload data in any of our products and services. We want to delete the data as soon as possible and will continue to work with the authorities to determine the best way forward, as well as to answer their further questions and concerns.”

Google refused to comment further on Blumenthal’s request. In June, Blumenthal referred to the accidental data collection as a “deeply disturbing invasion of personal privacy.”

Google turns down Connecticut AG’s request for wi-fi user data is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google Maps can come in handy if you need relatively precise directions or information on a business.

But as the service improves with expanded details on businesses globally, a British Member of Parliament raises an interesting point about when information needs to be concealed for possible overriding reasons of privacy or safety. Shelters for abused women traditionally operate in secret, to protect residents from abusers who have been known to stalk or harass them. The security of one such shelter was compromised when the location’s information, including a picture, was posted on Google:

“Only once women have called the emergency number and a pickup point has been agreed do they find out where the hostel is.

“Imagine their great concern when, on entering the name of the organisation on Google, a picture of the building the refugees use and also their address appear on the search engine,’ (MP Mark Lancaster) said.

“I find it staggering that such an invasion of privacy on an organisation whose purpose is to protect others is allowed to occur.”

Google has commented on the concerns raised by Lancaster, saying:

“The company has contacted Mr Lancaster this morning to urgently try to find out the details of the case he raised.

“Anyone can request an image for removal from Street View using our simple ‘report a problem’. When they do we remove the image quickly. We have removed sensitive locations in the past and are happy to do so.”

What do you think? Should the service be “opt in” rather than “opt out?”

MP says Google Maps reveals location of secret UK domestic violence shelter is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sure it’s fun to look at Google Street Views, to spot weird objects in the path of their cameras and to find information about your future and past travels, but did you know that the very same street view cars tasked with taking pictures of every street were also stealing your email addresses and passwords?

Regulators in 30 countries today began a further investigation into the online street map service after it was learned that the “fragments” of information Google had captured may have in fact been more robust than originally thought.

Google says the data collecting was an accident that occurred when they were running code for an experimental project that would have allowed them to collect WiFi hotspot data for location-based services.

On Friday Senior VP ALan Eustace said in an official Google Blog post:

I would like to take this opportunity to update one point in my May blog post. When I wrote it, no one inside Google had analyzed in detail the data we had mistakenly collected, so we did not know for sure what the disks contained. Since then a number of external regulators have inspected the data as part of their investigations (seven of which have now been concluded). It’s clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords. We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users.

Hmmm…I don’t think Google is attempting world domination here, but this should come as an important lesson for people with WiFi networks…Secure them! It’s not hard to do, your wireless router these days are setup for ease of use, just read the instructions and secure your information. After all, do you really want to trust your information across an unsecure network when it can be picked off “by accident” if that really was the case.

Google Street View Cars Grabbed Email Addresses And Passwords is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Google street view camera snapped photos of 2 men moments before they assaulted and robbed a teen of £140 ($232 US) and his cellular phone in the Netherlands.

The victim, a 14 year old boy from Groningen, a town 110 miles north-east of Amsterdam, discovered the photo of himself on Google’s street view and realized it also showed his two attackers preparing to rob him. The boy went to police, who had previously been unsuccessful in solving the case and showed them the photo.

The police requested the original photo from Google, the one without the faces blurred. Goolge sent them the photo and one detective recognized one of the attackers right away. Prosecutors will now need to decided if the photos give them enough evidence to arrest the two men.

Paul Eidanus, a police spokesman from Groningen, says he’s pretty sure this case is the first time Google Street View images have been used in a Dutch criminal investigation.

“For us, it is unique. This photo could provide an important contribution to solving the crime.”

Google Street View Photographs Robbers in the Act is a post from: The Inquisitr

Residents in an English village have chased a Google Street View car out of their town.

The car was spotted by Broughton resident Paul Jacobs, who warned the driver that he should turn around. The driver ignored him, so Jacobs did a ring around and got enough people to come out and surround the car, forcing it to leave.

Jacobs says he was concerned that inclusion in the service would result in a rise in break-ins: “”This is an affluent area. We’ve already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it’s an invitation for more criminals to strike. I was determined to make a stand, so I called the police.”

Ignoring the fact that it’s still (mostly) legal to take a photograph in a public street, Jacobs said “”My immediate reaction was anger; how dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent?”

Privacy groups are trying to have Google Street View shut down in the UK, claiming that it’s a far bigger deal than the millions of CCTV cameras that spy on residents live 24/7.

(via PC Pro)

English villagers man pitchforks against Google Street View car is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google has released a major overhaul for Google Street View, delivering new functionality that makes the service easier and more friendly to use.

The new Street View revolves around “Pegman” a Clippy like character that users can drag and drop anywhere to view Street View. Better still, users can hold Pegman over a location for a second to see a preview of what the Street View image looks like before deciding on the full shot.

Street View also goes big screen with an inset map, allowing for better viewing of images, and quicker switching, per the screenshot above.

Directions are now offered in Street View for the first time: users can plot where they want to go, and walk through the route visual on Street View.

The changes aren’t perhaps amazing, but they are very nice. Video demo follows:

Google Street View gets a very nice overhaul is a post from: The Inquisitr