Police have found no evidence Google committed a criminal
offence by gathering personal wireless internet data during
its street view operation in New Zealand.
They have referred the matter back to the Privacy
Commissioner.
The commission in June asked police to investigate a possible
breach of the Crimes Act after concerns were raised that
Google had collected unencrypted wi-fi data while
photographing streets with 3D cameras for its street view
mapping service.
Google has admitted collecting public wi-fi data in more than
30 countries, though it was not known what kind of
information had been collected. The company "locked-down" the
information while the matter was being investigated.
Detective Senior Sergeant John van den Heuvel, of the police
national cyber crime centre, said there was no evidence to
suggest Google had committed a criminal offence.
The matter was a timely reminder about wi-fi security, he
said.
"Anyone using wi-fi needs to ensure they have appropriate
security measures in place.
"People should not underestimate the risk that information
they broadcast might be accessed by others, either
inadvertently or for more sinister purposes."
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