Google has faced legal trouble over its Street View project in the U.S. and abroad. Now, it has reached a landmark $7 million settlement with U.S. state officials. The company has also agreed to train its employees about privacy and create a public campaign to raise awareness of securing wireless networks.
The settlement brings closure to several U.S. state attorney general investigations into Street View, which had been collecting data over Wifi, including email addresses and web site visit histories. Google has said the information collection wasn't intentional.
"While the $7 million is significant, the importance of this agreement goes beyond financial terms," Connecticut Attorney General George Jespen said in a statement. "Consumers have a reasonable expectation of privacy. This agreement recognizes those rights and ensures that Google will not use similar tactics in the future to collect personal information without permission from unsuspecting consumers."
Street View uses cameras attached to cars to gather images of locales around the world. The personal information was collected from the unsecured Wifi signals that the Street View cars identified.
"The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it," Google's spokeswoman Nadja Blagojevic said in a statement issued Tuesday. "We're pleased to have worked with Connecticut Attorney General George Jespen and the other state attorneys general to reach this agreement."
The fine appears to put the privacy debate to rest - for now. The Federal Trade Commission closed its case without fining Google, while the Federal Communications Commission issued a $25,000 fine. Attorneys general from 38 states and the District of Columbia went ahead in the legal case that has prompted the $7 million settlement, in which Google does not acknowledge any violations of law. In Europe, government reaction to Street View included confiscated hard drives from Street View cars and fines.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called the settlement "one of the most significant fines for violations of Internet privacy to date."
Google is no stranger to controversy. Complex has compiled a list of "The 15 Most Ridiculous Things Blamed On Google."
