Google to compromise with European data officials

Google claims to have collected the private Wi-Fi data by mistake

Google is reportedly about to offer European data protection officials a compromise in terms of the amount of personal Wi-Fi data it will hand over.

The search firm is being investigated after mistakenly collecting private Wi-Fi information from homes and businesses when creating its Street View service.

Google's actions breached the Data Protection Act, and European countries including Germany, Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Italy opened full investigations into the incident.

But while some digital rights organisations argue that Google should divulge the Wi-Fi information it has been holding because people deserve to know how much data the firm holds about them, others maintain that handing over hard drives would only further affect privacy.

A report in The Financial Times claims that Google's lawyers have advised the firm not to hand over the data, and that Google will propose a compromise this week. The firm has not outlined what this might be.

A Google spokeswoman refused to comment.