A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday against Google, finding that a civil case seeking damages for the software giant’s unauthorised collection of data could proceed.
The case revolves around Google Street View vehicles, which in 2010 were found to have illegally collected private user information while mapping locations of wi-fi networks.
Google had argued that the case should be dismissed because the company collected data from Wi-Fi networks that was readily accessible to the general public.
In its ruling, the US Court of Appeals rejected Google’s arguments, potentially setting a precedent that data transmitted over wi-fi networks, even if unencrypted, cannot be intercepted without permission.