Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Because Google has become an arm of the Obama administration

By Sara Jerome

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski will face tough questions about his investigation into a privacy breach by Google during a House hearing on Wednesday, according to a House aide.

The aide said Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) is expected to question Genachowski on an apparently-lagging FCC probe into the infamous Google Wi-Fi data breach. The FCC probe was announced to great fanfare in November but has yet to produce any publicly available results.

During what privacy groups dubbed the "Wi-Spy" breach, Google collected and stored private data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, including passwords and e-mails.

The company has since apologized and boosted its privacy settings, persuading the Federal Trade Commission against fining it during a probe at that agency.

Genachowski, who is testifying Wednesday on the FCC budget, is also expected to take questions on whether the government should fund the implementation of net-neutrality rules. Republicans say the agency overstepped its authority when it passed the controversial rules last year.

Graves and Appropriations colleague Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), along with members of Energy and Commerce, led the charge to defund the rules.

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