Google Finds Cheap Way Out of Multibillion-Dollar ‘Wi-Spy’ Suit
- Settlement will close the books on a scandal from a decade ago
- Money to go to privacy groups instead of Wi-Fi network owners
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Google is poised to pay a modest $13 million to end a 2010 privacy lawsuit that was once called the biggest U.S. wiretap case ever and threatened the internet giant with billions of dollars in damages.
The settlement would close the books on a scandal that was touched off by vehicles used by Google for its Street View mapping project. Cars and trucks scooped up emails, passwords and other personal information from unencrypted household Wi-Fi networks belonging to tens of millions of people all over the world.