Google Korea's Offices Raided by Korean National Police Agency

In the latest episode of the unauthorised collection of data by the Google Street View cars, the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) have seized computers and hard-drives from the search engine company's Seoul headquarters.

The incident in South Korea is the latest in a long line of national concerns being expressed with regards to the illicit aggregation of personal data via wi-fi technology. Although Google claim to have never utilised the information, the serendipitous capture of such sensitive details worried many of the capabilities of the company to breach the security of our homes and access our files.

Despite the now familiar story of accusations such as these against Google, the Seoul incident represents a far more aggressive response from the authorities; 19 KNPA officials raided the offices,with summons pending for Google officials involved in the investigation.

The problems with the Street View data collection first erupted in May this year, when German authorities discovered the accidental, yet unlawful collation of information sent over unencrypted wi-fi networks. Since then, the US, UK and French authorities have been amongst those to carry out detailed audits of the search engine firm's data archives.

In light of the initial allegations in May, a vice president in engineering and research at Google, Alan Eustace, confirmed the wrongful collection of data, announcing that:

"It is now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open Wi-Fi networks, even though we never used that data in any Google products."

Writing on Google's official blog, Eustace ensured readers that a report providing a review of the software deemed to be at fault was completed and sent to “the interested data protection authorities”.

Such open admissions may not be as forthcoming in the Seoul affair however, with a Korea Communications Commission official warning of the real possibility of jail sentences or fines for those staff members at Google involved in any perceived wrongdoing.

Despite the relatively stringent reprimands faced by Google over this case, a spokesperson for the search engine goliath reassured the media and the Korean authorities that:

"We will co-operate with the investigation and answer any questions the police may have.”

The fact remains however, that Google's troubles are not over. Unless they can resolve the software problem causing the access to unencrypted, personal data, the progression of the Street View drive may have to take a back seat for the time being.