anallawalla - 2:53 am on Aug 1, 2012 (gmt 0)

I can't afford for Google to be shut down and neither can most of us on WW, but I've held the view that this is the kind of death by a thousand cuts that will lead to its gradual demise. I was surprised when Google's excuse of accidental data collection was accepted, given that a video camera on the Google cars does not have a Wi-Fi antenna and receiver by default. Someone designed that, ordered the receivers, had them installed and turned on.

We can speculate why Google 'fessed up to still having personal data - could have been a whistleblower, could be anything else.

We all know that anything stored on disk or RAM can be copied for private use numerous times.

The only punishment that Google would understand is to be blocked in the UK and other affected markets for some extended period. The ban should also apply to any proxy site that allows a bypass. Fines are pointless. Of course it won't happen. :)