Google Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Spying on WiFi Activity

Only one week after Google admitted to “accidentally” collecting data from unprotected home wireless Internet networks, the tech giant is facing a class action lawsuit in Oregon and Washington states for invasion of privacy.

Apparently Google had been using it’s Street View cars to collect non-sensitive data, such as SSIDs and MAC addresses, to help fine-tune its geolocation products like Google Maps for mobile, which helps people find local restaurants or get directions. Google insisted that no payload data (the actual content users send over their network) was being recorded, but recently admitted in it’s official blog that “it’s now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from non-password-protected WiFi networks.” This payload data consisted of documents, emails, video, audio and VoIP information.

Google insists it never used this data in any Google Products, but the lawsuit maintains that Google stored the information on its servers, which can be accessed by “hundreds, if not thousands, of Google employees throughout the United States.”

The proposed class action lawsuit is asking for every resident of Oregon and Washington to be given “$100 a day for each day their data was breached, or $10,000 per violation per plaintiff.” The lawsuit is also seeking an injunction to prevent Google from destroying the data in question so that it could be used as evidence.  [TechEye]