The UK may have let Google off the hook for its wifi snooping, but the search engine giant isn’t out of the woods yet. Other European countries still have standing issues with Google’s data collection methods, including the U.S. Some, like the Germans, still wonder why Google was collecting Wi-Fi data from its Street Views cars at all. Nevertheless, Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has cleared Google of “snooping” after considering the data Google actually collected.

From the ICO, as quoted in the Telegraph UK,

The ICO said in a statement: “On the basis of the samples we saw, we are satisfied so far that it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data. There is also no evidence – as yet – that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment.”

The article went on to say that British authorities are still investigating Google’s case in Germany, Spain and other European countries. This seems to be a case for good measure, as Google’s data collection methods and use cases can be called into question at any time. Google has a lot of information on its users–the matter of when, where how and why this information is used by a corporate entity is something that should always be questioned on an internal and external level.

For Google, this has been an ongoing issue from day one. Matters haven’t gotten any better, now that Google has only increased the amount of data it collects on global populations for individual tools and recommendations. Search has been a major segue for Google to create a series of products around our lives–that has led to questions around the search engine’s recent partnership with Yahoo Japan, as well as Google’s mobile initiatives.

Earlier this week Google saw another privacy fall out, as a wallpaper app in its Android Market was discovered to have been collecting personal data from mobile users. The fragility around Google’s mobile platform security and the legalities around the company’s own data collection methods serve as reminders to authorities and consumers to pay attention to self-regulated firms, while also reminding Google and others to strive for fair practices. It’s these practices that get the top-down enforcement, but when it comes to web data, consumers still need to seek ways to retain control.