Google data protection breach was ‘significant’

Google Street View

Google committed a serious breach of the UK Data Protection Act when it collected personal details during its Street View operation, the information commissioner has said.

The search giant could not be hit with a monetary penalty due to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fining powers not being retroactive, as previously reported.

Today, however, the ICO ruled Google would not receive any form of punishment.

Instead, Google will have its data protection practices audited by the ICO and has been told to sign an undertaking to ensure data protection breaches do not happen again.

The conclusion to the Google Street View investigation comes just two days after the ICO said it would not be pushed into a "knee-jerk" reaction or bow to pressure to issue a severe punishment.

"It is my view that the collection of this information was not fair or lawful and constitutes a significant breach of the first principle of the Data Protection Act," said information commissioner Christopher Graham. "The most appropriate and proportionate regulatory action in these circumstances is to get written legal assurance from Google that this will not happen again and to follow this up with an ICO audit."

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.