Google Faces Police Raid in South Korea; Privacy Violations Suspected

By Susan J. Campbell

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Google's problems abroad appear to be intensifying and this time the heat is on in South Korea. According to a New York Times report, police officers in South Korea raided the Google (News - Alert) offices looking for proof as to whether or not the company had illegally collected and stored personal wireless data.

The company's "Street View" application is stirring up trouble for Google all over the world as lawsuits and investigations continue to mount over the collection and storage of private wireless data.

This application was first launched in 2006 and it provides users the opportunity to view panoramic street scenes on Google Maps. It also enables users to take a virtual walk through cities. It really is a cool app, but it stands to reason that some people don't want their information stored.

In South Korea, Google sent out cars with cameras on top to cruise throughout its cities to photograph neighborhoods. The search giant planned to launch the Street View service in the country this year, but this latest upset may delay the process.

Police in South Korea believe the cars illegally captured and stored personal data from wireless networks while they were mapping streets. The Cyber Terror Response Center of the Korean National Police Agency announced its suspicions in a statement.

The agency plans to investigate Google Korea officials, as well as scrutinize data that has been confiscated. The agency is trying to determine whether or not its country's laws on communications and privacy were violated.

"We intend to find out what kinds of data they have collected and how much. We will try to retrieve all the original data illegally collected and stored through domestic Wi-Fi networks from the Google headquarters," the agency said in a statement.

When the matter has come up in the past, Google officials have always maintained that the collection of personal wireless data in other countries was unintentional and a blunder. Google does intend to cooperate with investigations.  

Google has faced similar pressures in China as the company continues to fight censoring attempts. It appears that in spite of China's continued attempts to censor Internet users and trump individual license rights, Google has decided to comply with government demands.

In other Google news, the company is set to launch its 'Google Me' social network - should Facebook (News - Alert) be worried? It may be important to note here that this isn't Google's first attempt at making a social networking dent. Orkut - Google's Facebook - has proven to be a successful website, but only in a few countries.