Brodsky seeks investigation of Google
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County, today asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to launch a criminal investigation of the search-enging giant Google for the apparent violation of a privacy law he penned several years ago.
Brodsky, a candidate to replace gubernatorial candidate Cuomo as AG, said the company’s use of WiFi technology while the company was taken photographs for Google Street View.
The Google Maps feature allows a user to see 360-degree photographs of a road or avenue.
But Brodsky said that while conducting the survey, the company was able to tap into unsecured WiFi connections and was able to store e-mails of unwitting computer users. That is a possible violation of New York’s law that prohibits the unauthorized collection of computer data.
“We spent a week on the phone with Google which we asked to understand what it was they had done,” Brodksy said. “At the end, it’s clear to me what Google did violated the law.”
In the letter to Cuomo, Brodsky wrote that his investigation “has concluded that there is a strong likelihood of a violation of the computer trespass law, and a degree of likelihood that the wiretapping and deceptive practices laws were violated.”
Brodsky said the company, based in Mountain View, Calif., could face criminal charges.
Google issued this response:
“This was a mistake, but we believe we did nothing illegal. We’re working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns.”
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