Privacy watchdog urges DOJ to investigate whether Google Street View broke wiretapping law

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has asked the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to further investigate Google's Street View service.

The group asked the DOJ to probe into whether Google violated the Wiretap Act when the company collected Wi-Fi data from residential Wi-Fi networks during a 2010 run of its Street View service.

Earlier this week Google was fined $25,000 for obstructing a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigation into the allegations.

EPIC lambasted the ruling for being too lenient.

"The investigation conducted was inadequate and did not address the applicability of federal wiretap law to Google's interception of emails, usernames, passwords, browsing histories, and other personal information," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenburg said in a letter to US attorney general Eric Holder.

"The FCC ignored legal precedent holding that the contents of unencrypted Wi-Fi networks were protected by the Wiretap Act."

Starting in 2007 Google began sending out vehicles with digital cameras attached to them so they could capture images for their Google maps service.

Google Street View cars also used hidden internet receivers to collect data that traveled across unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.

In May 2010 the FCC began an investigation into this matter which resutled to a $25,000 obstruction fine for Google.

EPIC argued that by collecting data transmitted over an unencrypted Wi-Fi network, Google was not protected by established legal precedent. The group insists that the DOJ is with in its jurisdiction to enforce criminal laws like the Wiretap Act.

The DOJ has yet to respond to EPIC's letter.

When asked for comment on the matter, a Google spokesperson referred to the company's earlier statement on its FCC settlement.

Google has previously faced government scrutiny over the collection of wireless data by Streetview teams. Authorities in Europe issued fines and forced the company to delete all of the collected data.