Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has issued a civil investigative demand to determine exactly what content Google's Street View cars had accidentally captures from unsecured wireless networks while photographing streets for its online services.
The privacy breach occurred in over 30 different countries. "I am disappointed by Google's failure to comply with my information demands," Blumenthal said in a statement. "We will review any information we receive and consider whether additional enforcement steps -- including possible legal action -- are warranted."
Initially Google played down the incident, saying that only useless fragments of data were captured from unsecured networks and that the wireless equipment automatically changed channels about five times a second. However, Google later conceded that independent investigations of the data in affected areas turned up full e-mails and passwords that were captured.
A Google representative contacted Blumenthal's office and informed it that the company does not intend to comply with the information request. An investigation into the incident by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was closed, while an FCC investigation remains open.
Written by: James Delahunty @ 17 Dec 2010 22:54
