Another state investigates Google's WiFi snuffling

INTERNET SEARCH GIANT Google has been asked by the state of Connecticut if it harvested payload data from unsecured personal WiFi networks.

The state wrote a letter to Google suggesting that its Street View cars might have invaded the privacy of residents.

"Driveby data sweeps of unsecured WIFI networks here would be deeply disturbing, a potentially impermissible, pernicious invasion of privacy," wrote Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal.

"Consumers and businesses rightly expect Google to respect their privacy, not invade it by vacuuming up confidential data.

The searches collected MAC addresses to expand Google's geoLocation API service. This will offer Google Map users limited tri-angulation to aid location awareness for anyone without a GPS. The problem is that Google has admitted it "inadvertantly" collected private information including WiFi users' browsing habits, passwords and emails.

The Connecticut attorney general wants to know exactly what information Google took, when it took it and where it is stored

"Concealed Internet capture by Google's high tech cars may violate valid expectations of privacy -- making it possibly illegal," Blumenthal continued.

"If personal data was collected, Google must disclose how widely it was captured, how it was stored, who had access to it and the purpose," he concluded.

According to the Associated Press Google has stated that it has not broken the law.

The good people of Connecticut are the latest party to launch an investigation of Google's WiFi data collection. We reported that Germany got the ball rolling with UK and Ireland, Europe, Australia, the state of Oregon in the US and even Canada following suit.

Google initially claimed in a blog post that an engineer accidentally collected the data. µ