Google's Streetview Privacy Snafu Prompts Lawsuit

shmG writes "Google's secret data collection has prompted a class-action lawsuit that could force the company to pay up to $10,000 for each time it recorded data from unprotected hotspots, court documents show. The incident, which the company claims to have been unintentional, has prompted the ire of governments and privacy groups around the world. Google collected information that could be used to identify users, including 'the user's unique or chosen Wi-Fi network name, the unique number given to the user's hardware ... [and] data consisting of all or part of any documents, e-mails, video, audio, and VoIP information being sent over the network by the user,' the suit stated."

Comments

Re:That personal traffic was encrypted anyway.Righ

[Rophuine]

What else do you think they were collecting? The ... undata packets as well? Get off /. please.

Re:Because of the money

[DamienNightbane]

It may be a bigger market, but the overhead is fifty times worse, and that's not even factoring in the huge difference in taxes.