Arkansas is one of 38 states looking into data mining done on accident by Google's Street View program, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Thursday.
Google has admitted that the software used in its Street View program collected data that could have included passwords, e-mails or web browsing histories. The company said the information was collected by mistake, but Google’s initial response to a May 27 letter from Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal did not fully explain how the mistake occurred, what data was collected and what has happened to that data.
In Google’s response, the company provided information which the states believe is not fully responsive to the inquiry and which actually raises more questions about the Google Street View program.
A chief concern of the is whether Google sold or otherwise disclosed information that may have been gathered by its Street View software.
“ The people of Arkansas deserve answers from Google as to whether they collected any sensitive data while in the state and how the company allowed it to happen,” McDaniel said. “Businesses and families need to be confident that information transmitted over wireless networks remains private. To that end, this coalition will work vigorously to get to the bottom of this and make sure something similar doesn’t happen again.”
Information for this article was contributed by the Attorney General's Office.