Ride the Lightning

Federal Judge Rules That Google E-Mail Wiretap Lawsuit Will Go Forward

October 3, 2013

Actually, Google is now facing two suits alleging it violated the federal wiretap law. But in the most recent September 26th ruling, the subject is Google's scanning of e-mail. In California,  U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Gmail users had not consented to the e-mail scanning, even though Google claims that it only automated scanning of emails – and that people were not rifling through users' Gmail accounts to collect data to be used for targeted advertising or other purposes.

Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that a separate case against Google could continue, where it was accused of violating wiretap law through the use of its Street View mapping service, which allegedly collected unencrypted Wi-Fi data of unsuspecting individuals. Though I use the word "allegedly," Google admitted in June 2010 that it mistakenly siphoned users' Wi-Fi communications as it collected Street View photographs. Data collected included personal e-mails, usernames, passwords, videos and documents according to the plaintiffs.

In a considerable understatement, Alan Butler of the Electronic Privacy Information Center noted, “It’s been a bad month for Google.”

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