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Google's South Korea Offices Raided Over Street View Data Collection

by Amar Toor on August 10, 2010 at 10:15 AM

Google Korea

Already under fire from privacy advocates and politicians in the U.S., Google is now facing a probe from the South Korean government, amid speculation that the company may have illegally collected private information from Korean users. As Reuters reports, police raided Google Korea's Seoul offices yesterday, as part of an ongoing investigation into the company's Street View service. After more than a year's worth of preparation, Street View still has yet to launch in South Korea. Korean authorities, though, clearly want to make sure the feature won't jeopardize its citizens' rights to privacy, as it has in other parts of the world.

Back in May, Google admitted that its camera-equipped Street View cars inadvertently collected and stored personal data from open Wi-Fi networks, including private passwords and e-mails. When news of the incident broke, Google was quick to reassure consumers that it had never actually used the collected data, and promptly grounded its fleet of Street View cars. So far, however, that hasn't been enough to placate worried governments and regulatory agencies around the world, who continue to investigate the company's data mining practices.

As the most wired country in the world, Korea certainly has reason to be vigilant when it comes to privacy protection. Google, meanwhile, obviously has an enormous financial interest in maintaining a strong foothold in Seoul. By preemptively raiding Google's offices, though, Korean authorities are essentially making it known that the company's word can't be trusted. And that aggressive pretext certainly doesn't bode well for future relations between the two. [From: Reuters]

Tags: google, GoogleEarth, GoogleMaps, GoogleStreetView, GoogleStreetViewCar, government, Korea, privacy, south korea, SouthKorea, streetview, top, web

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