Google Slammed for “Wardriving by Design”

Google found itself in a public relations nightmare when it was revealed in 2010 that the project had captured traffic from private wireless networks. Although the company blamed the mistake on a single engineer, an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed that the collection “resulted from a deliberate software design decision” on Google’s part. Google was investigated by at least seven countries, has had to defend against multiple class action lawsuits, and paid a $7 million settlement to 38 states and the District of Colombia.