Google recently found itself the object of a Federal Communications Commission investigation following suggestions that the company may have violated federal wiretap laws during the execution of its Street View project. Following the release of a heavily redacted report on the matter from the FCC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for an unedited version of the report.
Federal investigators did hit Google with a $25,000 fine for obstruction, but according to EPIC officials there are several questions left unanswered regarding the scope of the FCC probe. The fact that the wiretapping charges were previously upheld in federal court, yet not in the FCC's concluding opinion, have only added to the controversy.
"We were all very surprised by the FCC report," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told ZDNet. "The FOIA request may help get to the bottom of the story."
Google has already admitted to collecting the names, addresses, emails and even text messages and medical records of private citizens through unencrypted Wi-Fi hotspots, but claimed the collection was an inadvertent mistake.
