The FCC alleges Google failed to respond to requests for material information. Google may face FCC fine

Google may face a $25,000 fine from the FCC for its conduct in a federal investigation of data the company collected over many Wi-Fi networks while mapping neighborhoods in 2010.

The financial penalty isn't for violating federal law, but for having "deliberately impeded and delayed" the FCC's effort to determine whether the company ran afoul of anti-eavesdropping rules, according to the FCC order.


The FCC alleges Google did this "by failing to respond to requests for material information and to provide certifications and verifications of its responses."

Google also "repeatedly violated commission orders to produce certain information and documents" required for the investigation.

At the same time, the FCC's enforcement team closed its investigation. The agency said there is "not clear precedent" for such an application of communications law in the case, but noted that the decision of a key engineer to invoke fifth amendment rights meant the agency could not answer "significant factual questions."

The FCC did not return multiple requests for comment.

Google does have the chance to appeal the fine.

"We worked in good faith to answer the FCC's questions throughout the inquiry, and we are pleased that they have concluded that we complied with the law," a Google representative told POLITICO.

Google has faced international scrutiny for the so-called Wi-Spy scandal, which affected an untold number of consumers' unencrypted home wireless networks. The FCC probe began in 2010. The FTC, meanwhile, ended its inquiry in 2010 without imposing any penalties on the company.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 7:26 p.m. on April 14, 2012.

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