Google's UK privacy manager was a senior official at the knowledge Commissioner's workplace (ICO) throughout its much-criticised investigation into Street read, it's emerged.
Stephen McCartney joined Google as its London-based privacy policy manager in November last year – eighteen months when he was guilty information|of knowledge|of information} protection promotion at the watchdog at an equivalent time that it cleared the corporate over its secret data assortment by Street read cars. The ICO reopened its investigation in June following contemporary proof from a US regulator.
Rob Halfon, the Tory MP for Harlow who has been crucial of the ICO and Google over the info capture, said he would raise the matter in parliament. He told the Guardian: "This could be a pretty stunning revelation. It raises additional questions about the knowledge commissioner than it will Google as a result of clearly the ICO has been asleep on their watch on this issue."
McCartney was one in all the highest officers at the ICO at the time of its 2010 investigation. However, the ICO said McCartney wasn't concerned in its original investigation.
The news came to lightweight following a Freedom of data request by a member of the general public who noticed that McCartney, formerly the pinnacle of knowledge protection promotion at the ICO, had additional recently been writing to the ICO itself from Google because it competent the newest investigation.
The 2010 probe faced a barrage of criticism by privacy activists who said it didn't get to the lowest of Google's mistaken capture of emails, passwords and different non-public information from web users. The ICO reopened its investigation in June when an in depth probe by the US Federal Communications Commission, that concluded that the info assortment wasn't the action of one "rogue engineer", which one senior manager had been told that the system might capture Wi-Fi information.
Google was fined $25,000 by the FCC, that might realize no proof of criminal wrongdoing underneath US law, however said Google had "wilfully and repeatedly" failing to retort absolutely to a politician letter of inquiry.
The news will prove uncomfortable for Google, that has been laid low with the info scoop since initial admitting it in might 2010.
The ICO confirmed within the Freedom of data request that McCartney formerly worked there. His LinkedIn page says he was the pinnacle of knowledge protection promotion and strategic liaison cluster manager at the ICO for seven years till November 2011.
Halfon said that the ICO "acted when the horse had bolted and are woefully lacking". He added: "Now it looks they need had a comfy relationship with the corporate they need been investigating."
The ICO conjointly released correspondence between its workplace and McCartney over the road read issue from April to June this year.
In one email on four might 2012 to the knowledge commissioner Christopher Graham, McCartney – at Google – complains concerning "significant errors" within the reporting of a US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) investigation into the so-called "payload" information assortment.
"We are aware that there are important errors within the reporting of the content of this notice by the media, which some information protection authorities have created statements to the media on the premise of those errors," McCartney wrote to the ICO.
"We have invariably recognised that we tend to failed badly here, and that we are happy to answer any queries authorities might have. however we tend to do feel that there are factual errors in a number of the reporting that has to be addressed."
He then goes on to focus on four points from the FCC report, however doesn't provide samples of misreporting by the media. In different emails, McCartney alerts the knowledge commissioner to the planned publication of the FCC report, that Google voluntarily revealed at the tip of April.
A spokesman for the ICO said: "Stephen McCartney played no half within the investigation into the Google Street read project whereas performing at ICO. In any event, ICO staff still be legally certain by a confidentiality agreement when they leave the organisation, as a part of the info Protection Act.
"The revealed correspondence between Google and therefore the ICO clearly shows that Stephen McCartney was treated like several different organisation's representative, along with his emails receiving nothing over a polite acknowledgement. "
"Stephen Eckersley, the ICO's head of enforcement, continues to research Google's actions with regard to the road read project."
A Google spokesman said: "We don't discuss individual staff."
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