Australia announced a police investigation Sunday into whether Google illegally collected private information from wireless networks, becoming at least the second country to probe the Internet giant’s “Street View” mapping service.
The Australian criminal investigation comes as more regulators and consumers watchdogs around the world are complaining that Google doesn’t take people’s privacy seriously enough. Google maintains that its users’ privacy is one of the company’s highest priorities.
Last month, Google acknowledged it had mistakenly collected fragments of data over public Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries while it was taking pictures of neighborhoods for the Street View feature.
A Google spokeswoman said on Sunday the company had made an error. “This was a mistake,” Google said in a statement on the Australian case. “We are talking to the appropriate authorities to answer any questions they have.”
