Lawmakers call on DOJ to reopen investigation into Google Wi-Fi spying

24.05.2012
Two U.S. lawmakers have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen its investigation into Google's snooping on Wi-Fi networks in 2010 after recent questions about the company's level of cooperation with federal inquiries.

Representatives Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, and John Barrow, a Georgia Democrat, called on the DOJ to fully investigate Google's actions for potential violations of federal wiretapping laws. In light of a on Wi-Fi snooping by Google Street View cars, the DOJ should take a new look at the company's actions, wrote the lawmakers, in a Thursday letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The FCC report suggests the Wi-Fi snooping was a "deliberate, software-design decision," Pallone said in a press release.

"In light of the FCC report on Google Wi-Spy -- which revealed Google intentionally collected personal information from Americans -- I urge the Department of Justice to re-evaluate the Google Wi-Spy incident," Pallone said in a statement. "Privacy is a critical issue and neither Google's influence nor size absolves it from responsibility."

The DOJ and the FCC have already looked closely into the incident and found "no violation of law," a Google spokesman said in an email. "We have always been clear that the leaders of this project did not want or intend to use this payload data," the spokesman said. "Indeed, Google never used it in any of our products or services."

As Google tested its Street View service, the company's engineers decided it should use the Street View cars for wardriving, or scanning Wi-Fi networks, according to the FCC report, released by Google in April. The information would prove useful for creating maps of Wi-Fi hotspots, the report said.