Google loses appeal in Street View snooping case

9/10/2013

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court is affirming a judge’s decision that Google overstepped its bounds by enabling its vehicles to collect emails, Internet passwords and Web surfing behavior while photographing neighborhoods for the search giant’s popular “Street View” mapping feature.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a report today that the Google cars with cameras mounted on their roofs went far beyond listening to accessible radio communication.

A Google spokeperson says attorneys for the Internet giant are disappointed in the 9th Circuit’s decision and are considering our next steps.”

Google has apologized for the snooping, promised to stop collecting the data, and said what it did was inadvertent but not illegal.