San Francisco: Google will pay a $7 million (Dh25.74 million) penalty to settle an investigation into the Internet search leader’s collection of emails, passwords and other sensitive information sent over wireless networks in neighbourhoods throughout America several years ago.
A person familiar with the matter says the resolution will close a joint investigation by more than 30 US states. The person asked not to be identified because the settlement isn’t expected to be announced until early next week.
The case dates back to 2010 when Google Inc revealed that company cars taking street-level photos for its online mapping service also had been vacuuming up personal data transmitted over wireless networks that weren’t protected by passwords.
Google has maintained it didn’t break any US laws and has apologized for a breach of online etiquette.
