Google goes SSL for searches

In the blog post, Google called the payload data collection "a mistake," and the company said it would ask a third party to review its data collection software and to confirm that it deleted the data appropriately. It also said it would review its "procedures to ensure that our controls are sufficiently robust to address these kinds of problems in the future."

Today, in a statement sent to The Reg, Google said that it deleted data collected in Ireland, Austria, and Denmark, after data protection authorities in those countries requested its deletion. It also said that it's keeping data from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, after those countries requested it be kept. And it has now decided to keep all remaining data as well.

"Given that there is some uncertainty about deletion generally, for example one DPA [data protection authority] changed its instruction from delete to retain in the last 24 hours, we think it makes sense to keep the remaining country data while we work through these issues," the statement reads.

But the company was also under pressure from Privacy International and Brussels to halt deletion, and German authorities have already launched a preliminary criminal investigation into the data collection, as other countries consider such investigations, according to The FT.

In the US, lawmakers have called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the matter, and according to sources speaking with Reuters, both the FTC and the Department of Justice are considering the possibility. Meanwhile, two Americans have filed a class action suit against the company for intercepting their personal Wi-Fi data.