Connecticut’s attorney general takes legal action to get Street View data from Google

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Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal (and senator-elect) of Connecticut is taking legal action to force Google to turn over consumers’ data it says it inadvertently collected while operating its Street View service, his office said Friday.

The legal action is in the form of a “civil investigative demand,” essentially a subpoena.

“Verifying Google’s data snare is crucial to assessing a penalty and assuring no repeat,” Blumenthal said in a statement.

Blumenthal says Google has allowed international regulators to review the data, which includes passwords and entire e-mails. But Google has refused to allow Blumenthal to review it.

Google caused an international uproar when it was revealed it had collected and stored user data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks taken by its fleet of cars that take photographs for its Street View mapping service. Google says the data collection was a mistake.

Here’s a statement from Google: “As we have said before, we are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted networks. As soon as we realized what had happened, we stopped collecting all WiFi data from our Street View cars and immediately informed the authorities. We did not want and have never used the payload data in any of our products and services. We want to delete this 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.”

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-- Jessica Guynn