Internet giant Google has been threatened with criminal proceedings if it does not destroy personal data collected from wifi networks.
The internet giant has been handed an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after further personal data unlawfully collected by its Street View cars was discovered.
The watchdog has demanded that it destroy four discs containing information it took from unsecured wifi networks.
Google had previously pledged to destroy all data collected in this manner - but admitted last year that it had "accidentally" retained the additional discs.
The ICO has warned Google that failure to comply with the legal order will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence.
A statement from the ICO said an investigation found that the collection of payload data by the company was the result of procedural failings and a serious lack of management oversight, including checks on the code behind the software.
But, it added, the investigation also found there was insufficient evidence to show that Google intended, on a corporate level, to collect personal data.
Stephen Eckersley, ICO Head of Enforcement, said: "Today's enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within the next 35 days and immediately inform the ICO if any further disks are found.
"Failure to abide by the notice will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence."
"The early days of Google Street View should be seen as an example of what can go wrong if technology companies fail to understand how their products are using personal information.
"The punishment for this breach would have been far worse, if this payload data had not been contained."
The ICO's decision followed the reopening of its investigation into the Google Street View project in April last year.
The decision followed the publication of a report by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which raised concerns around the actions of the engineer who developed the software previously used by the cars, and his managers.
The ICO added that its investigation into whether Google's privacy policy complies with the Data Protection Act is on-going.
This investigation is part of coordinated action by data protection regulators across Europe, to assess whether Google's latest privacy policy clearly explains how individuals' personal information is being used across the company's products and services.
The ICO said it would shortly be writing to Google to confirm its preliminary findings.
Google has yet to make a comment.
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