Google to give private Wi-Fi data to European regulators

Google will begin handing over private data mistakenly gathered from wireless Internet connections to European regulations within the next two days, the Financial Times reported Friday.

The news comes amid growing controversy over the Internet giant's admission that Street View cars taking photos in more than 30 countries had inadvertently gathered fragments of personal data sent over unsecured Wi-Fi systems.

Google would hand information initially to data protection authorities in Germany, where prosecutors have opened an investigation into the firm, and then in France and Spain, the FT reported.

It would also publish the results of an external audit into what happened, as well as the results of an internal review into all its privacy practices.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told the business daily he could not rule out the possibility that the data included bank account details.

"We screwed up. Let’s be very clear about that," Schmidt told the FT in an interview. "If you are honest about your mistakes it is the best defence for it not happening again."

(c) 2010 AFP