Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/10/hand_over_the_goodies_brazil_tells_chocolate_factory/

Hand over the goodies, Brazil tells Chocolate Factory

StreetView legal roadshow out for one more tour

By Richard Chirgwin

Posted in Legal, 10th November 2013 22:05 GMT

Google has until the end of this week to hand over information collected by its StreetView vehicles in Brazil.

In a judgement published Thursday November 7, a federal district court judge has agreed with the country's IBDI (Institute of Computer Policy and Rights) that the Chocolate Factory should hand the court private data collected by its StreetView vehicles in that country.

The decision confirms a July case that made a similar order. Google has opposed handing over the data on the basis that there is no relevant legislation in Brazil, but Judge Carla Patricia Friar Nogueira Lopes said passages in the country's constitution covering the protection of privacy are sufficient to allow the order to be stand.

According to El Globo (and Google Translate), by the end of this week, Google will have to hand over the data, or be liable for daily fines of 100,000 Brazilian Reals, up to a maximum of R1 million (about $US430,000 on the current exchange rate).

The IBDI wants the data to determine whether Google has been over-indulging in its data collection. If the data demonstrates mass data-collection by Google (including over-slurping open WiFi hotspots), the institute hopes to launch a class-action lawsuit.

As in other countries, Google has long ago pulled the WiFi slurping software from its StreetView vehicles, and told the court the data wasn't used in its products or services.

Brazil is planning legislation, dubbed Marco Civil de Internet, that would provide a civil rights framework for that country's Internet users. The legislation has been criticised by Google and Facebook for its requirement that data be stored within Brazil's borders rather than being shipped back to US data centres.

The country has already made it mandatory that government e-mail systems have to use open source software and store their data on-premises. ®