Italy Convicts Three Google Executives for Privacy Violations
An Italian Court has convicted three Google employees for breaking their countries privacy law by not seeking the consent of all parties involved before allowing a posting on Google Video to go online. Peter Fleischer, David Drummond and George De Los Reyes each received suspended six month sentences.
The video showed an autistic teenager being bullied. It was posted on Google Video in 2006 shortly before they acquired YouTube.
One of the convicted, Chief Legal Officer at Google David Drummond said, "I intend to vigorously appeal this dangerous ruling. It sets a chilling precedent. If individuals like myself and my Google colleagues who had nothing to do with the harassing incident, its filming or its uploading onto Google Video can be held criminally liable solely by virtue of our position at Google, every employee of any internet hosting service faces similar liability."
The UK's former Information Commissioner and consultant to privacy law firm Hunton & Williams, Richard Thomas, commented, "It is like prosecuting the post office for hate mail that is sent in the post. It is unrealistic to expect firms to monitor everything that goes online."
The verdict has the potential to cause global consequences for content providers.
