BOSTON – A state representative has called on Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley to investigate whether Google violated state laws over the past three years by capturing data sent over private Wi-Fi networks not protected by passwords.
Google has acknowledged its Street View vans – the vehicles that take the photographs used on Google Maps – picked up the data from private networks when it was only supposed to document their existence.
State Rep. William M. Straus, D-Mattapoisett, sent a letter to Coakley asking her to look into the matter, which has also drawn criticism from federal regulators and officials in Europe.
“I think ultimately it would be appropriate to ask Google that this information that they say they inadvertently collected on people be deleted from their systems,” Straus told The Standard-Times. “There is no business use and there is no practical benefit to the public from Google retaining the Wi-Fi information they scooped up.”
