22 July 2010 | Author: J. Morton Search Copywriter

Google under fire as 38 US states turn up Street View heat

The search seraph seems to be in hot water over alleged snooping while photographing on the streets of the US, having previously faced demands from European governments.

Thirty-eight states in America have bound together to push Google over claims it illegally collected personal data from unsecured wireless networks while conducting its research for Google Street View.

The most recent development in the action has been a call to name the engineers who wrote the code that intruded upon the wireless networks, according to a BBC report. The coalition of states also has demanded to know whether Google tested the Wifi code before sending the Google fleet out for reconnaissance.

"Google must come completely clean, fully explaining how this invasion of personal privacy happened and why," Connecticut Attorney General and head of the coalition Richard Blumenthal said. "We are asking Google to identify specific individuals responsible for the snooping code and how Google was unaware that this allowed the Street View cars to collect data broadcast over Wifi networks"

Mountain View has previously duked it out with Germany's privacy officials, where it was made to turn over details collected from the networks, and has apologised several times publicly for the "mistake".

In this case, Google said: "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."

However, the coalition seems bent on finding out exactly how such a blunder could happen, whether or not that appeals to the search giant.

"We will take all appropriate steps, including potential legal action if warranted, to obtain complete, comprehensive answers," Blumenthal asserted.