Google loses appeal in Street View privacy lawsuit

A U.S. appeals court upheld a district court decision that Google’s collection of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks under its Street View program is not exempt from federal wiretap laws.

Google’s data collection does not qualify for the exemption as data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network is not an electronic communication that is readily accessible to the general public, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, giving a go-ahead to a privacy lawsuit against Google.