French fine Google $140k for wi-fi snoping

The French data privacy regulator has fined Google €100,000 ($A140,000) for the collection of personal WiFi activity while it recorded data for its Street View service.

According to Fudzilla, this is one of the steepest fines that the National Commission for Information Freedom (CNIL) has issued since it obtained the power to impose financial sanctions in 2004. The regulator said this was an ‘unfair collection' of information under French law and Google had received economic benefits from the data.

The French commissioner was one of many to publicly criticise Google over privacy issues related to Google Buzz last year and now follows Britain, Australia and Spain in conducting a separate investigation of Street View.

In Australia and Britain, despite finding that Google had breached people's privacy, commissioners did not issue fines.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com