Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Google under probe in S.Korea over data collection
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 10 - 08 - 2010

South Korean police raided Google Inc's Seoul office on Tuesday, the latest in a series of legal challenges the company is facing because of data collected by its controversial fleet of "Street View" cars.
Google has been preparing since late last year to launch its "Street View" service in South Korea, and the data collection was related to the launch, Reuters quoted police as saying.
The probe in one of Asia's most wired countries came as a fresh setback to Google, which already faces investigation over "Street View" by 37 U.S. states as well as an informal investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and a variety of probes overseas and class action lawsuits.
Google confirmed in an emailed statement that South Korean police visited the company's office in conjunction with their investigation around data collection by Street View cars. It said the company would cooperate with the investigation.
Google's Street View cars are well known for crisscrossing the globe and taking panoramic pictures of the city streets, which the company displays in its online Maps product.
In May, Google revealed that the cars also accidentally collected computer users' personal information transmitted over unsecured wireless networks due to an experimental piece of computer code mistakenly used by the car's equipment.
"(The police) have been investigating Google Korea LLC on suspicion of unauthorised collection and storage of data on unspecified Internet users from Wi-Fi networks," the Korean National Police Agency said in a statement.
The police inspected the Google Street view cars and asked questions of staffers at Google's office during the unexpected visit.
Security experts have said the data picked up by Google could include people's email messages and passwords, although Google has said that the United Kingdom's data protection authorities recently concluded that no "meaningful personal information" was collected by the cars.
Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, does not break out what portion of its nearly $24 billion in annual revenue comes from South Korea.
The company currently operates its flagship Internet search service in South Korea, as well as other services like its Android smartphone software.
BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said he did not expect the South Korean probe to have any material impact on Google's financial results. But he noted that the probe represents the latest in a series of overseas legal and regulatory inquiries that increase the company's "sovereign risk."
"These things always could escalate. It would be disappointing to have another loss within Asia," said Gillis, referring to Google's confrontation with China over Internet censorship earlier this year.
Google's license to operate in China was recently renewed for one year, but Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has said that Chinese authorities could shut Google down at any time.
Schmidt told reporters on the sidelines of a conference last week that the data collected by the Street View cars fit onto a single 500MB hard disk drive, which Google currently has locked inside a safe.
Schmidt said he has not seen the data on the disk drive.
Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world.
Collecting the Wi-Fi data was unrelated to the Google Maps project, and was done instead so that Google could collect data on Wi-Fi hotspots that can be used to provide separate location-based services. But Google apparently thought it was only collecting a limited type of Wi-Fi data relating to the Wi-Fi network's name and router numbers.


Clic here to read the story from its source.