NY AG Announces Multistate Settlement With Google

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today joined 37 states and the District of Columbia in announcing a multi-million settlement with Google over its unauthorized collection of data from unsecured wireless networks nationwide.

Between 2008 and March 2010, As Google took photographs for its Street View service, it collected and stored information including email and text messages, passwords, and web histories being transmitted over unsecured wireless networks without consumer consent.

Schenidermann's office says that under the terms of the agreement, Google has agreed to secure and destroy the information it improperly collected, launch an employee training program to ensure its employees understand how to protect consumers and their information, conduct a national advertising campaign to educate consumers on how to protect their private information, and pay a $7 million fine to the states involved.

New York’s share of the settlement is approximately $192,000. Other states participating in the settlement include Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont.