European officials are reacting angrily to Google's admission that it has been recording private data sent over unencrypted residential wireless networks in countries around the world since 2006, The New York Times reports. The company acknowledged in a blog post on Friday that its Street View cars, which have been photographing cities and towns worldwide for the company's mapping feature, have also been collecting "samples" of data from open WiFi networks. Google says it will hire an independent auditor to determine what has been collected and will delete the data as soon as possible. "This was obviously a mistake, and we are profoundly sorry," a spokesperson from its Hamburg offices said. Australia's privacy commissioner is scheduled to discuss the issue with Google Australia today. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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