Google Inc.: It’s one of the biggest companies in the world. It’s also the subject of an investigation that has global privacy law implications.
The Federal Communications Commission is currently investigating Google’s Street View feature because Google Inc. allegedly collected people’s passwords and e-mails without their consent, a direction violation of the federal Communications Act. The privacy implications of this current investigation concern consumer advocates.  
Google Inc. collected and stored e-mails and passwords from unencrypted, but not encrypted, Wi-Fi networks. The company said this collection of private information without consumer consent was unintentional, and that they cannot delete this information they have collected because investigators will not allow them to.
The company apologized in May 2010, when news of data collection surfaced, and told the Federal Trade Commission that a third-party researcher was looking into the issue. In an October 22 blog post, Google Inc. said it had actually collected more consumer information than it previously thought. Google Inc. was aware it had failed at gaining consumer trust and is currently working on improving its privacy features.
“As we have said before, we are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted networks,” according to a statement from the company. “As soon as we realized what had happened, we stopped collecting all Wi-Fi data from our Street View cars and immediately informed the authorities. We want to delete the data as soon as possible and will continue to work with the authorities to determine the best way forward, as well as to answer their further questions and concerns.”
Consumer privacy advocates are concerned about Google Inc.’s practices.
“There’s no reason to doubt Google’s claim of mistake, but at this point in their growth and sophistication, Google should not be making these kinds of privacy errors,” according to an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release from May 2010.
Regardless of an apology, Google Inc.’s collection of information that is supposed to be private is startling for many people.
“I think this was a violation of consumer information,” University professor Kyu Ho Youm said. “The question is why they did do it.”
Youm teaches communication law and digital freedom courses at the University’s School of Journalism and Communication. He said the FCC’s investigation is occurring because of global concerns. Several countries in Europe, including Ireland, wonder if Google Inc., an American company, violated their domestic laws. European countries have more privacy laws than the U.S.
Compared to these other countries, the U.S. favors the freedom of choice of corporations over the privacy of consumers and citizens.
“This is a disturbing development for some people,” Youm said.
University freshman Adela Chicas-Cruz said she is concerned about her privacy online.
“I’m not comfortable with people getting into my stuff,” she said.
University sophomore Cole Harder said that because Google is a public resource, he is not as concerned about privacy.
“They can do what they want; it’s their company. I can choose whether or not to use it,” he said.
Google Inc. has sent out cars with cameras attached to the roof to take 360-degree photographs for Google Maps’ Street View since 2007. Recently, Google began recording information about Wi-Fi networks to use in mobile applications.
The Federal Trade Commission dropped its investigation of Google Inc.’s Street View two weeks before the FCC began its investigation.
The FCC and other government agencies are a step behind the progress of technological developments, Youm said.
“Sometimes the legal framework needs to catch up with technology,” he said.
Google Inc.’s actions could have violated the Federal Wiretap Act and the section of the Communications Act that forbids the interception of radio communications without authorization, according to a statement from the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Google is one of the most frequently-used websites of all time. In October 2009, Americans used Google’s search engine function 320 million times a day, according to the marketing firm comScore.
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