In December 2013 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Google’s appeal that the Wifi data was not a “radio communication.” The US District Court rejected Google’s argument as did the 9th Circuit in September 2013, and the December 2013 ruling affirmed the previous rulings. Lexology.
Ninth circuit. NEWS Google to face claims over Wi-Fi snooping. G Will Pay $7 Million To Settle Street View Data Capturing Case. Google to pay $7 million for scooping up data in Street View production. G admited privcy breach. Justice Department Clears Google In Wi-Fi Sniffing Scandal | Threat Level. The Justice Department has cleared Google of wiretapping violations in connection to the company secretly intercepting Americans’ data on unencrypted Wi-Fi routers for two years ending in 2010, Google said.
“The DOJ had access to Google employees, reviewed the key documents, and concluded that it would not pursue a case for violation of the Wiretap Act,” Google wrote in a Thursday filing (.pdf) with the Federal Communications Commission. The Justice Department declined comment. If true, the development means that at least three government agencies — the FCC, Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department — found Google committed no wrongdoing in the so-called Street View debacle. Those outcomes, however, contradict a federal judge who last year ruled the search-and-advertising giant could be held liable for violating federal wiretapping law.
The decision by U.S. Google’s letter to the FCC said the Justice Department notified Google in May that it had closed its investigation. The U.S. Contradicting a Federal Judge, FCC Clears Google in Wi-Fi Sniffing Debacle | Threat Level. The Federal Communications Commission is clearing Google of wrongdoing in connection to it secretly intercepting Americans' data on unencrypted Wi-Fi routers. The commission concluded Friday, in an order unveiled Monday, that no wiretapping laws were violated when the search giant's Street View mapping cars eavesdropped on open Wi-Fi networks across America. The FCC said that, between 2008 and 2010, "Google's Street View cars collected names, addresses, telephone numbers, URL's, passwords, e-mail, text messages, medical records, video and audio files, and other information from internet users in the United States. " Last year, a federal judge ruled that the search-and-advertising giant could be held liable for violating federal wiretapping law, giving the greenlight to lawsuits seeking damages over Google's objections.
That argument didn't pass muster last year with U.S.
Connecticut attorney general demands Google's Street View data. Connecticut’s attorney general has demanded that Google turn over data from unsecured wireless networks collected by its Street View cars, saying the information is necessary to determine whether the company broke state laws. While privacy officials in Canada have viewed the Wi-Fi data collected by Google, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday that to his knowledge, no federal or state authorities in the U.S. have viewed it. Google has repeatedly apologized for the international data breach, which the company says was inadvertent. Google has until next Friday to respond to the civil investigative demand, the equivalent of a subpoena, issued for data that Street View cars collected in Connecticut. “We need to verify what confidential information the company surreptitiously and wrongfully collected and stored,” Blumenthal said Friday in a statement released to media outlets.
Blumenthal’s statement referred to potential penalties against Google. FCC investigates Google for Street View privacy breach. The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it is investigating a data breach by Google, whose Street View mapping cars scooped up e-mail addresses and passwords from unencrypted residential Wi-Fi networks. “Last month, Google disclosed that its Street View cars collected passwords, e-mails and other personal information wirelessly from unsuspecting people across the country,” said Michele Ellison, the FCC's enforcement bureau chief. “In light of their public disclosure, we can now confirm that the Enforcement Bureau is looking into whether these actions violate the Communications Act. " She said the investigation was intended to ensure consumers affected "receive a full and fair accounting. " The FCC wouldn't describe details of its investigation, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Google's cars took pictures around the world for ground-level views of homes and neighborhoods for its Street View maps application. Rep. Lost AmeriHealth Mercy Flash Drive Exposes Data of 280,000 Medicaid Members - Health Care IT from eWeek. Satisfied with Google's promise to restrain Street View, FTC drops privacy-breach probe. The federal government has ended an inquiry into a privacy breach involving Google's Street View service, satisfied with the company's pledge to stop gathering e-mail, passwords and other information from residential WiFi networks as it rolls through neighborhoods. Wednesday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission is a sharp contrast with the reaction of regulators in Europe.
The United Kingdom has launched a new investigation into Google's collection of unencrypted WiFi data, exposing the company to potential fines. Germany told Google to mark its Street View cars that take pictures of neighborhoods and homes. The Czech Republic banned Google from expanding its mapping software program. The differences highlight an increasing gap between regulators in the United States, where the freewheeling Internet culture has birthed many of the social networking sites and search engines used worldwide, and governments in Europe and Canada, which tend to be much more aggressive about privacy. AT&T Responds to BoomTown Privacy Breach Via Email (Oh, the Iron. Earlier today, I wrote a piece about how I was one of the 114,000 AT&T customers whose email and device identity numbers had been easily exposed earlier this week via a flaw in the way the company registered the Apple (AAPL) iPad 3G for cellular access. In my post, I complained that I had yet to hear from the telecom giant about the security snafu and release of my personal email address, which AT&T (T) had yet to acknowledge to those impacted.
Well, the company does read tech blogs, so this morning, this communication from a PR honcho was sent to my work email, which is available on this site publicly. Regrets? AT&T has a few: Hi Kara:I am writing to apologize that your personal e-mail address was made public. As you can see, I used my crack security system–DELETE! And while I do appreciate the reaching out, I still want to hear–as do others affected–officially from AT&T about exactly what’s what. (Suggestion to make us happy: A free iPhone 4 might be a sweet gesture. Again, I kid! FTC asked to probe Street View privacy snafu | Politics and Law. Two of Google's chief congressional critics on Wednesday called on federal regulators to investigate whether the search company's inadvertent collection of Street View Wi-Fi data violates the law.
In a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, they prod the agency to evaluate whether accidental capture of brief snippets of Wi-Fi traffic is an "unfair or deceptive act" that has harmed consumers. On Friday, Google acknowledged that its Street View cars had unintentionally intercepted fragments of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks for periods of 200 milliseconds at a time. Google's blog post said it was code that should not have ended up in the final product, and that it was contacting regulators and deleting the data. A Google representative on Wednesday declined to discuss details of any conversations with the FTC, instead saying: "We are working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns. " The letter to the FTC (PDF) was signed by Reps. Google wants to patent technology used to 'snoop' Wi-Fi networks. Computerworld - Google's secret Wi-Fi snooping was powered by new sniffing technology that the company wants to patent, court documents filed Wednesday alleged.
A just-amended complaint in a class-action lawsuit first submitted two weeks ago claims that a patent Google submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in November 2008 shows that the search giant purposefully created technology to gather, analyze and use data sent by users over their wireless networks. The lawsuit, which was filed by an Oregon woman and a Washington man in a Portland, Ore. federal court May 17, accused Google of violating federal privacy and data acquisition laws when its Street View vehicles snatched data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks as they drove up and down U.S. streets. Google acknowledged the privacy issue May 14, but said it had not known it was collecting data from unprotected wireless networks until recently.
The advocacy group Privacy International has had similar thoughts. Google Wi-Fi Spy Lawsuits Head to Silicon Valley | Threat Level. Whether Google is liable for damages for secretly intercepting data on open Wi-Fi routers across the United States is to be aired out in a Silicon Valley federal court. Eight proposed class actions from across the country that seek unspecified monetary damages from Google were consolidated this week and transferred to U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California.
Another five cases are likely to join. The lawsuits allege that Google violated federal and state privacy laws in collecting fragments of data from unencrypted wireless networks as its fleet of camera-equipped cars moseyed through neighborhoods snapping pictures for its Street View program. The consolidation decision (.pdf) by the U.S. Still, acquiring lead counsel status, a title given to lawyers whom the judge believes can best represent the interests of class members, comes with a huge risk as well. The deep-pocketed Google maintains that it did nothing wrong, and is likely to put up a fierce and costly defense.