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Tag: George Jepsen

  • Google Settles With 38 States Over Wi-Fi Spying Charges

    In 2010, Google was caught siphoning data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks with its Street View cars. It’s now been almost three years since the practice was first revealed, and Google may have finally tied the last loose string of this affair.

    Connecticut Attorney State General George Jepsen announced today that Google has paid out $7 million to settle charges brought against it by the 38 states affected by its Street View Wi-Fi spying. On top of the cash settlement, Google must adhere to a number of agreements:

    …engage in a comprehensive employee education program about the privacy or confidentiality of user data; to sponsor a nationwide public service campaign to help educate consumers about securing their wireless networks and protecting personal information; and to continue to secure, and eventually destroy, the data collected and stored by its Street View vehicles nationwide between 2008 and March 2010. Google also collected similar data around the world.

    Jepsen hopes that the settlement will hopefully dissuade Google from trying anything like this in the future:

    “While the $7 million is significant, the importance of this agreement goes beyond financial terms. Consumers have a reasonable expectation of privacy. This agreement recognizes those rights and ensures that Google will not use similar tactics in the future to collect personal information without permission from unsuspecting consumers.”

    The settlement is the latest, and potentially final, chapter in the Wi-Fi spying scandal that hit Google in 2010. The company was fined by the FCC last year to the tune of $25,000 for obstructing an investigation into its Wi-Fi eavesdropping practices, but the Commission ultimately dropped the investigation. Privacy advocates had called for a renewal into the investigation, but that didn’t exactly pan out.

    Those same privacy advocates are no doubt pleased then by today’s settlement. They’ll probably argue that the $7 million settlement isn’t nearly enough, but at least the company will finally destroy all the data it collected.

    [h/t: The Hill]

  • Connecticut AG Declines To Take Google To Court

    Google’s decision to ignore a Civil Investigative Demand issued by Richard Blumenthal may work out all right for the company.  New Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell have reached an agreement with Google that should keep the matter from going to court.

    A little background information, since this matter has been dragging on for so long: then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal began investigating in June whether Google’s Street View cars had collected sensitive WiFi data.  Other states joined the inquiry (the coalition now has 40 members), and eventually, Blumenthal issued the equivalent of a subpoena.

    Jepsen’s taken a more subtle approach.  The only problem for Google is that the company’s had to make some uncomfortable admissions.

    GoogleA statement issued by Jepsen’s office indicated, "Google has now stipulated that while collecting network identification information for use in offering ‘location aware’ services, it did in fact collect and store the payload data that contained private information."

    Then the statement continued, "In particular, Google stipulates, for purposes of settlement discussions, that the payload data collected contained URLs of requested Web pages, partial or complete e-mail communications or other information, including confidential and private information the network user was transmitting over the unsecured network while Google’s Street View car was within range. . . .  Google also will not contest during settlement negotiations that such private information was collected every day that the Street View cars operated."

    One other important point: if the private negotiations with Google don’t go well, Jepsen’s reserved the right to scrap this agreement and take the whole matter to court.