Data protection authorities in the U.K. said this week that they are satisfied that Google's recent unauthorized Wi-Fi data collection did not include any meaningful personal data about residents in the region.
"On the basis of the samples we saw we are satisfied so far that it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data," the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said in a statement. "There is also no evidence as yet that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment."
The issue dates back to May, when Google admitted that Wi-Fi data collection devices attached to its Street View vehicles inadvertently collected data being transmitted over unencrypted networks. A subsequent Stroz Friedberg audit of the source code collected by Google could not determine whether personal information was collected. Google later said that the data was only accessed twice: when the individual engineer who designed the software first created it, and after the glitch was discovered and a security engineer tested the data to verify that this was the case.
ICO officials went to Google's office to examine the U.K. data.
"We wanted to make our own judgment as to the likelihood that significant personal data had been retained and, if so, the extent of any intrusion," the organization said.
That examination led the ICO to conclude that the data "does not include meaningful personal details that could be linked to an identifiable person."
ICO stressed that it could not comment on data collected in other countries, and said it will "remain vigilant and will be reviewing any relevant findings and evidence from our international counterparts' investigations."
Google said recently that it agreed to hand over collected data to German, French and Spanish data protection authorities. Google has already destroyed data collected in Ireland, Denmark, and Austria.
Investigations continue in several countries, including Canada, Australia, and the U.S., where Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading an investigation backed by 48 other state attorneys general.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.