From a press release Tuesday (March 12):

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) announced today that Hawaii joined 37 states and the District of Columbia in a $7 million settlement with Internet giant Google over its collection of data from unsecured wireless networks nationwide while taking photographs for its Street View service between 2008 and March 2010. 

Google’s Street View cars were equipped with antennae and open-source software that the company acknowledged collected network identification information for use in future geolocation services. …

While Google represented it was unaware the payload data was being collected, the agreement of voluntary compliance it signed with the states acknowledged that the information may have included URLS of requested Web pages, partial or complete email communications, and any confidential or private information being transmitted to or from the network user while the Street View cars were driving by. … 

Hawaii’s share of the settlement is $106,179.

Google has since disabled or removed the equipment and software used to collect the payload data from its Street View vehicles and agreed not to collect any additional information without notice and consent.  …

Photo courtesy donjd2.

—Chad Blair