Google Street View Accused of 'Spying'

An advocacy group is calling on Congress to investigate Google, after the internet giant's popular Street View program reportedly collected the personal information of lawmakers.

Consumer Watchdog wants Congress to hold hearings into what data Google's Street View possesses, BBC News reported Friday.

Street View is a mapping project that captures images of homes and businesses using cameras mounted on vehicles that roam the nation's roadways. Google has admitted that starting in 2006, its vehicles mistakenly collected some information transmitted over personal unsecured wireless networks.

Consumer Watchdog found that by retracing the routes of Google vehicles, it could detect unencrypted networks and access e-mails, photos, and other information people transfer through the Internet.

According to the BBC:

(Consumer Watchdog) found that Congresswoman Jane Harman, who heads the intelligence sub committee for the House's Homeland Security Committee, has an open home network that could have leaked out vital information that could have been picked up by Street View vehicles.
Ms Harman's office has not responded to calls for comment on the issue. Consumer Watch said it did not collect any information but did pinpoint where unsecure networks could be found ...
The experiment found that a further four residences it checked had vulnerable networks in the vicinity that may belong to members of Congress.

"We think the Google Wi-Spy effort is one of the biggest wire tapping scandals in US history," John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog told the BBC.
Google has said that in order for data to be collected, a homeowner would need to be on the Internet just as their vehicles drove by and that the in-car wireless network equipment automatically changes channels roughly five times a second.

In a statement, Google wrote, "as we've said before, it was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we did nothing illegal. We're continuing to work with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns."

VIA: Politics Daily