Dozens of Google employees fired in recent years over data misuse

Google fired dozens of employees for misusing their access to the company’s tools and data between 2018 and 2020, a spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Thursday.

“The instances referred to mostly relate to inappropriate access to, or misuse of, proprietary and sensitive Google corporate information or [intellectual property] IP,” the Google spokesperson said in a statement.

They added that employees are limited in how much user data they can access and that a review system is in place to avoid sensitive data being unlocked. 

Motherboard first reported on the firings, citing an internal document that suggested some of the dismissals may have been linked to inappropriately accessing user or employee data.

Google terminated 18 employees in 2018, 26 the following year and 36 in 2020 for security-related incidents, Motherboard reported.

“The number of violations, whether deliberate or inadvertent, is consistently low,” the Google spokesperson said. “Every employee gets training annually, we investigate all allegations, and violations result in corrective action up to and including termination.”

“We are transparent in publicizing the number and outcome of our investigations to our employees and have strict processes in place to secure customer and user data from any internal or external threats,” the spokesperson added.