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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."
If Germany's privacy laws prevent Google from taking photos of people and property, how are their StreetView vans driving down the road taking pictures of ... people and property? I still call bullshit, and I can't imagine why Google would be allowed to collect electromagnetic radiation from a public space in one wavelength but not another.