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Google has agreed to pay $7 million to settle a multi-year investigation by state AGs into claims it Street View cars violated people’s privacy. Some critics say the settlement is little more than a slap on the wrist for the Internet giant, which generated nearly $50 billion in revenue last year, or — as Time Magazine puts it — $6 million per hour.
The Google Street View settlement comes nearly three years after the company admitted its Street View cars had “accidentally” and secretly collected personal data from open Wi-Fi networks. The cars were put on American roads in 2007 as part of Google’s mapping program. In addition to taking photographs and collecting GPS data, the cars also harvested usernames, passwords and emails from unencrypted personal and business wireless networks.
The “Wi-Spy” debacle, as it was dubbed, garnered multiple class action lawsuits against the company that were consolidated as In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation. In July 2011, a federal judge ruled that plaintiffs could proceed with claims that Google violated the federal Wiretap Act.
The Google “Wi-Spy” class action lawsuit is still pending and plaintiffs’ attorneys have not commented on whether last week’s settlement will affect their case. The $7 million will be split among 38 states that participated in the investigation.
Google has also agreed to destroy the personal data it collected and take steps to ensure the company does not tap into networks again in the future.
“We work hard to get privacy right at Google,” the company said in a statement. “But in this case we didn’t, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue. The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn’t use it or even look at it.”
UPDATE: On June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not review the Google Street View class action lawsuit, rejecting an appeal by the tech giant to have the case thrown out.
UPDATE 2: On July 19, 2019, Google reached a $13 million settlement with customers who claimed that the company illegally gathered Wi-Fi network data with its Street View car fleet.
UPDATE 3: October 2019, the Google Street View class action settlement is now open. Click here to learn more.
UPDATE 4: On Jan. 20, 2020, nine attorneys general filed an amicus brief objecting to a $13 million cy pres settlement between Google and consumers which would end a class action lawsuit related to company’s gathering of Wi-Fi data with its Street View vehicles.
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3 thoughts onGoogle to Pay $7M to Settle Street View “Wi-Spy” Investigation
UPDATE: On June 30, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not review the Google Street View class action lawsuit, rejecting an appeal by the tech giant to have the case thrown out.
Wi-Spy is illegal and need to be stopped.
Wi-Spy is illegal