FCC points to rogue Google engineer over Street View Wi-Fi snooping
April 28, 2012 Devindra Hardawar
While Google got off easy over its Street View data mining case with the FCC - it was only charged a $25,000 fine for obstructing the agency - the full report of the investigation, released today by Google, raises new questions.
The report (embedded below) is heavily redacted and blacks out individual names, according to the LA Times, who was able to get an early look at it. It blames one "rogue engineer" in particular for intentionally creating software for Street View cars that grabbed personal data, including e-mails, search histories, and passwords, from unprotected Wi-Fi networks.
Notably, Google has repeatedly said the data collection was "inadvertent." But the FCC report offers up some evidence that makes us think Google had to be aware of it somehow. The unnamed engineer - who invoked his 5th Amendment right and didn't speak with the FCC - told two other engineers (one a senior manager) that he was grabbing the data. The report also claims the engineer gave the Street View team a document in October 2006 that outlined what he was doing.
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