The government has reloaded and is again taking aim at Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) over its Street View photo project.
The Web browser giant dodged the first bullet when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) dropped its investigation into potentially illegal collection of private data. Now the FCC has loaded up and is gunning for bear and is determined to find out if Google violated any laws when it inadvertently--it said--gathered passwords, emails and other personal information from Internet users while mapping street views.
The problem popped up when Google started recording information about WiFi networks in homes and businesses to help mobile devices but ended up collecting and recording the information being sent over those networks.
The FTC, after looking into the matter, declined to go any further. The FCC, "as the agency charged with overseeing the public airwaves (is) committed to ensuring that the consumers affected by this breach of privacy receive a full and fair understanding," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison said in a Commission statement.
For more:
- the New York Times has this story
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