Privacy

The cyberspace advertising giant Google is facing internal struggles over how "far should it go in profiting from its crown jewels - the vast trove of data it possesses" about users' online activities, reports The Wall Street Journal's Jessica E. Vascellaro.

Reporting on a 2008 confidential "vision statement," the WSJ says the document provides "a candid, introspective look at Google's fight to remain at the vanguard of the information economy."

The Google document asserts that the company's database is "the BEST source of user interests found on the Internet," and advances ideas on how to take advantage of the situation, WSJ reports.

The article continues:

The most aggressive ideas would put Google at the cutting edge of the business of tracking people online to profit from their actions. A data-trading marketplace, for instance, would allow personal information from many sources - including Google - to be combined and used for highly personalized tracking of individuals.

Beyond information gleaned from the vision statement, interviews with current and past Google workers reveal an internal and ongoing struggle over concerns about users' privacy and the potential for company profits.

"In short," the WSJ piece concludes, "Google is trying to establish itself as the clearinghouse for as many ad transactions as possible, even when those deals don't actually involve consumer data that Google provides or sees. The further step in that progression would be for Google to become a clearinghouse for everyone's data, too. That idea, also laid out in the vision statement, is still being considered, people familiar with the talks say. That would put Google - already one of the biggest repositories of consumer data anywhere - at the center of the trade in other people's data as well."

 

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, leading a multistate investigation into Google's Street View software, urged the company to release more data about the software, including the names of the people responsible for its usage.

In a press release announcing his letter that was sent to Google earlier this week on behalf of the 37-state coalition, Blumenthal maintained that the Internet search company should have been aware that the software could ensnare personal data.

"If Google tested this software, it should have known all along that Street View cars [pictured] would snare and collect confidential data from homes across America. Now the question is how it may have used - and secured - all this private information," he stated.

In his letter, Blumenthal also asked Google to supply the names of the people responsible for the Street View software, Reuters reported. The news service states that Google has acknowledged that its Street View software, intended to use Wi-Fi spots to provide location information to smartphones, had collected personal information over a number of years. Reuters noted that Google is facing "an informal investigation into the matter by the Federal Trade Commission, a variety of probes overseas, and class action lawsuits." Additionally Blumenthal asks Google whether it "sold or otherwise used technical network information also collected."

Blumenthal states:

Google's responses continue to generate more questions than they answer. Our powerful multistate coalition - 37 states so far - is demanding that Google reveal whether it tested Street View software, which should have revealed that it was collecting payload data.

We are asking Google to identify specific individuals responsible for the snooping code and how Google was unaware that this code allowed the Street View cars to collect data transmitted over WiFi networks. Information we are awaiting includes how the spy software was included in Google's Street View program and specific locations where unauthorized data collection occurred.

We will take all appropriate steps - including potential legal action if warranted - to obtain complete, comprehensive answers.

Some of the states involved in the investigation include Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Texas, New York, Mississippi, Vermont Nebraska, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Kansas, Montana and Rhode Island. The District of Columbia is also a part of the coalition.

Google spokeswoman Christine Chen told Reuters, "It was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we did nothing illegal. We're working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns."