The fight for a smidgen of privacy

Google Rebuffed by U.S. High Court on Privacy Lawsuit

By Greg Stohr  Jun 30, 2014  

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Google, leaving the company to face lawsuits accusing it of violating a federal wiretapping law by secretly collecting personal data while developing its Street View maps. Electronic Privacy Information Center President Marc Rotenberg speaks on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg)

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Google Inc. (GOOG), leaving the company to face lawsuits accusing it of violating a federal wiretapping law by secretly collecting personal data while developing its Street View maps.

The justices today left intact a federal appeals court ruling that the U.S. Wiretap Act protects the privacy of information on unencrypted in-home Wi-Fi networks.

Google, the world’s most-used Internet search engine, is accused in class-action lawsuits of gathering e-mails, user names and passwords while using a fleet of camera-equipped vehicles that drove around the country to collect images for Street View.

Google has apologized for collecting the personal information, while saying it didn’t violate the law. TheMountain View, California-based company has faced government investigations around the world over its data-gathering practices.

The Wiretap Act bars the unauthorized interception of wire and electronic communications. At theSupreme Court, Google argued that the Wi-Fi networks fit within an exception in the Wiretap Act for radio signals.

The case is Google v. Joffe, 13-1181.