Google Faces FCC Probe of Street View Data Collection Practices
In the wake of good news for Google Inc. concerning a now-concluded Federal Trade Commission probe of the company’s data collection practices for its global Street View mapping project comes bad news:
The Federal Communications Commission has revealed that another investigation is ongoing of the Internet goliath’s admitted inadvertent collection of unsecured passwords and e-mail from home wireless networks, Bloomberg reports.
The move follows similar scrutiny and criticism of Google by other regulatory agencies worldwide. Laws concerning privacy tend to be tougher and more strictly enforced in Europe than in the U.S., and British authorities have already determined that Google broke the law there, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Probes in France and Germany are ongoing.
Last month, the FTC said it was satisfied after Google agreed to delete the data and change its practices.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Google Admits Street View Cars Snagged E-Mail & Passwords, Is Sued re Saved Search Queries”
Post Tech (Washington Post): “FCC investigates Google for Street View privacy breach”
Reuters: “FCC probes Google’s Street View data collection”
