30 states may join probe of Google Wi-Fi snoop

As many as 30 states may investigate Google for surreptitiously sniffing traffic traveling over open Wi-Fi networks over a three-year span, Connecticut's top law-enforcement official said on Monday.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office will lead the multi-state investigation into the unauthorized data collection by Google Street View cars. A “significant number of states” are expected to participate, according to a press release issued by his office that claimed representatives from more than 30 states joined a recent telephone conference call to discuss the probe.

“While we hope Google will continue to cooperate, its response so far raises as many questions as it answers,” Blumenthal said in the release. “The company must provide a complete and comprehensive explanation of how this unauthorized data collection happened, why the information was kept if collection was inadvertent and what action will prevent a recurrence.”

In mid May, Google disclosed that its Street View cars in more than 30 countries routinely sniffed the payloads of unencrypted Wi-Fi networks within range of their sensors. The disclosure contradicted previous assurances that only network SSIDs and device MAC addresses were recorded. Google said the sniffing was accidental and was the result of experimental code that was inadvertently added to the Street View fleet.

Google has since come under criticism for failing to answer questions such as what kind of information was collected and who may have had access to it. At least seven civil lawsuits have been filed against Google over the Street View snooping, and agencies in Canada, Australia and throughout Europe have opened investigations. US lawmakers have called on the Federal Trade Commission to conduct its own inquiry.

“It was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we didn't break any US laws,” a Google spokesman wrote in an email. “We’re working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns.”

Blumenthal didn't name the other states that participated in the conference call. The press release is here. ®