U.S. ends inquiry into Google's Street View data grab

U.S. regulators looking at Google Inc's data grab by "Street View" cars have decided to end their inquiry, noting improvements that the search company has made to build consumer privacy into its corporate structure.

The Federal Trade Commission said in a letter to Google dated on Wednesday that it was ending its inquiry with no penalties. The agency noted that Google had recently announced that it was appointing a director of privacy for engineering and product management, training key employees on privacy and building a formal privacy review into the early phases of new initiatives.

Google's share prices were down Wednesday, sliding 0.7 percent to $614.08 amid a similar drop in the broader market.

Google acknowledged last Friday that its Street View cars around the world had inadvertently collected more personal data than previously disclosed, including complete e-mails and passwords.

But Google assured the FTC that it had not used and would not use the collected data in any product, the letter said.

"Because of these commitments, we are ending our inquiry into this matter at this time," wrote David Vladek, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Vladek also asked that Google continue its dialogue on consumer privacy.

Google had no immediate reaction.

Regulators in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, among others, have opened investigations into the matter.

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The announcement comes just days after Canada's privacy watchdog said Google had collected complete e-mails and accused Google of violating the rights of thousands of Canadians.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who leads a coalition of more than 30 states, said in a statement on Friday that Google's disclosure about the types of data it collected "validates and heightens our significant concerns." He noted then that the investigation was continuing.

Google disclosed in May that its Street View cars, which are well known for crisscrossing the globe and taking panoramic pictures of city streets, collected data from unsecured wireless networks used by residents in more than 30 countries.

Google's cars collected the Wi-Fi data between 2006 and mid-2010 so that Google could amass data on Wi-Fi hot spots that could help provide location-based services.

But Google apparently had planned to only collect a limited type of Wi-Fi data relating to the Wi-Fi network's name and router numbers. Google has said that its Street View cars no longer collect any type of wireless information.