Google Fined $25K for Stalling Street View Probe

The Federal Communications Commission was sympathetic in 2010 when Google said it was really, really sorry its street map vehicles accidentally picked up people's personal information from their wireless home networks. Two years later, however, the FCC is exasperated by Google's lack of cooperation with a probe into the problem, saying the online giant "deliberately impeded and delayed" its investigation and fining it $25,000, reports the New York Times. (How much will that hurt? Google reported net income of $2.89 billion in the first quarter of 2012.)

Google refused to search employee emails for information—saying the request "would be a time-consuming and burdensome task." It also refused to name the employees responsible—because doing so would "serve no useful purpose," Google told the FCC. For its part, Google says it has worked "in good faith" to answer the FCC's questions. Google still has the private data that created the controversy—saying it needs federal permission to delete the information—but that it has never looked at or used the data. “If it really was a mistake, you would expect the company to do everything possible to cooperate with the investigation,” said one computer expert. (More Google stories.)