Google’s winning streak with respect to the Street View privacy breach might be coming to an end. Although the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission let the company off the hook, the Federal Communications Commission confirmed this week that it’s started looking into the matter.
Not much else is known about the new probe at this point. We can suppose Google’s admission that it collected "entire emails and URLs . . . as passwords" is what set the government agency off, considering nothing else has happened recently.
Also, the tone and wording of a statement Michele Ellison, the chief of the FCC’s enforcement bureau, gave to Amy Schatz and Amir Efrati indicates that the FCC believes Google committed a serious error, and perhaps needs to pay for it in some way.
Still, Ellison just said, "As the agency charged with overseeing the public airwaves, we are committed to ensuring that the consumers affected by this breach of privacy receive a full and fair accounting."
We’ll of course be sure to continue to relay any other information the FCC releases, along with any significant points Google decides to make.