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Several State Attorneys General Announce Probes of Google Wireless Data Collection

  • News release: “Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is asking Google whether its “street view” cars collected personal information transmitted over wireless networks without permission while photographing Connecticut streets and homes. Google has acknowledged that “street view” cars in some locations have intercepted information from unsecured personal WIFI networks. In Europe, notably Ireland, Google admitted intercepting packets of data from unsecured WIFI networks. Private litigation alleges that Google also did so in the United States. Published reports say the captured, private online information may include general web browsing, passwords, personal emails and other data. Blumenthal wrote Google asking the company whether it gathered such data in Connecticut. If it did, the attorney general is demanding that the company tell his office how much and what kind of information it collected, when and where it did so, why, where the data is stored and other information.”
  • News release: “Attorney General Chris Koster sent a letter to Google, asking the company to provide details on personal information it may have collected from Missourians in connection with Google’s Street View Service. Recent media reports and admissions by the company indicate that as part of Google’s effort to collect data for its mapping service Street View, the company may have gained access to residents’ communications sent over public Wi-Fi networks.”
  • New York Times: States Discuss Joint Probe of Google’s Data Collection
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