LOS ANGELES — In the United States, Google Inc. is defending itself against lawsuits, a congressional probe and a 37-state investigation over personal information the Internet giant collected from unsecured wireless networks while assembling photos and data for its Street View mapping service.
But Britain’s data-protection watchdog says its review of the information collected by Google found it included only fragments and no “meaningful personal details that could be linked to an identifiable person.”
“There is also no evidence as yet that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment,” according to the statement Thursday.
That was the point Google made to Congress last month, that it believed its mapping vehicles had captured only fragments of data.
Google has apologized for collecting the data and said it had not done anything illegal.
British authorities did say they had no knowledge of the information Google collected from unsecured wireless networks in more than 30 countries. By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times
