The investigation stems from 's disclosure recently that its Street View cars from unprotected residential wireless networks, the FCC said in a statement.

In light of Google's disclosure, "we can now confirm that the Enforcement Bureau is looking into whether these actions violate the Communications Act," Michele Ellison, chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, said in the statement.

"As the agency charged with overseeing the public airwaves, we are committed to ensuring that the consumers affected by this breach of privacy receive a full and fair accounting," the FCC statement said.

The FCC's investigation adds to the growing list of organizations that are looking into whether Google broke any laws when collecting data for Street View.

In May, Google disclosed that the accidental inclusion of code written for an experimental Wi-Fi project was causing its Street View vehicles to from unprotected Wi-Fi networks along the routes.