Google database leaks, detailing privacy incidents and data issues 

A Google document has come to light, exposing a series of high-profile leaks that have permeated across media, gaming, and data protection.

The internal Google database obtained by 404 Media shows the depth of these data breaches. Google was in the wrong for “recording children’s voices, saving license plates from Street View, and many other self-reported incidents, large and small,” to name a few of the serious violations of data policy.

The news outlet says the database spans six years of recording, and it paints the world’s biggest search engine in a pretty dark light.

Google privacy breaches

The database logs internal reports on data breaches and personal and corporate data mismanagement. 404 says, “internal database shows how one of the most powerful and important companies in the world manages, and often mismanages, a staggering amount of personal, sensitive data on people’s lives.”

One incident involved Google Street View recording license plate data while scouring the streets with digital image capture. “Unfortunately, the contents of license plates are also text and, apparently, have been transcribed in many cases,” said the reporting employee. “As a result, our database of objects detected from Street View now inadvertently contains a database of geolocated license plate numbers and license plate number fragments.”

Some other notable issues at the highest priority level included:

• Children’s voices being recorded due to an incorrect filter
• The YouTube kids app was recording children’s audio
• An individual manipulating Ad Words, the previous name for Google’s ads, and altering affiliate tracking codes
• A Google employee leaked Nintendo announcements after gaining access to the company’s YouTube channel
• Carpool app Waze leaked the trips and addresses of users
• Deleted YouTube search history being used to suggest content
• YouTube content being made public for a short period of time, even though the content was uploaded as Private

Google confirmed the contents obtained by the news provider and, in a statement, said that employees report and escalate issues depending on priority to the reviewing party. Even going as far to say that all of the issues, “every one was reviewed and resolved at that time. In some cases, these employee flags turned out not to be issues at all or were issues that employees found in third party services.”

Image: Ideogram.

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