A report by 404 Media, citing a leaked copy of an internal database, revealed that Google "accidentally" collected children's voice data and leaked home address information for car users.
The report explained that the database contains thousands of privacy-related incidents over a period of 6 years, from 2013 to 2018.
404 Media said it obtained the dataset from an anonymous source, then verified it. He added that Google confirmed aspects of its content.
These incidents include issues with Google's own products and data collection practices; Vulnerabilities of third-party vendors used by Google, and errors committed by employees, contractors or other persons, that affected Google's systems or data.
The report acknowledged that most incidents, which were not previously reported, only affected a small number of people, or were quickly fixed.
“Overall, the internal database shows how one of the most powerful and important companies in the world manages a huge amount of personal and sensitive data related to people’s lives,” 404 Media wrote.
In one case, Google's Speech service recorded the voices of about 1,000 children for about an hour. The team "then deleted all recorded speech data," the report states.
In a statement, Google told 404 Media that “employees can quickly report potential product issues for review by the relevant teams,” adding that the reports obtained by 404 go back 6 years and were reviewed and resolved at that time.
Business Insider noted that the leak comes at a time when Google's reliability has become "already in doubt," especially after inaccurate responses to Google's AI Overviews feature.
Snooping is not good.
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