Google Sued Over Claims Data Collection for Street View Invades Privacy
Google Inc. was sued over claims its collection of data via Wi-Fi networks for the company’s Street View program violates federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.
The lawsuit was filed yesterday in San Jose, California, on behalf of Rick Benitti, who argues that Google intercepted business and personal information from his home wireless network when he lived in San Francisco from 2005 to this year.
Google said in May it mistakenly gathered information from open wireless networks while it was capturing images of roadways and houses for its Street View service, a product that lets users view photographs of an area online.
The complaint, which seeks class-action, or group, status, follows an announcement by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal last month that 37 states are investigating Google’s gathering of data, including e-mail and passwords. Officials in Germany, Spain and other European countries are also investigating Google’s data collection from Wi-Fi networks.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in May that it is reviewing Google’s data gathering. Also in May, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman in Oregon ordered the company to turn over similar data collected in that state, including any e-mails, files or digital phone records, according to court documents.
‘Access to Data’
In the Oregon case, Google said in a June filing that it faces eight similar cases over its data-gathering practices, including suits in Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Google asked the court in Oregon to move the case to Northern California, where it hopes to consolidate all similar U.S. cases.
“Hundreds if not thousands of Google employees throughout the United States have access to data maintained on Google’s servers, which includes intercepted electronic communications of plaintiff and others,” according to the complaint filed yesterday in San Jose.
A Google representative didn’t immediately return a phone call and e-mail message seeking comment.
Google Street View uses images captured by specially equipped vehicles to provide views of streets in almost a dozen countries around the world and can be found within Google Maps.
The case is Benitti v. Google, 10-3297, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The Oregon case is Vicki Van Valin v. Google, 10-00557, U.S. District Court, District of Oregon (Portland).
To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net.
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page