Google Agrees to Educate Consumers About Privacy in Street View Settlement

Last month, Google agreed to a settlement with 38 state attorneys general in a case they brought over privacy violations committed by Google during the course of its Street View data collection. Google’s street mapping cars (apparently inadvertently) collected e-mail addresses, passwords, and other personal information from the unsecured home networks of unsuspecting computer users.

Google is paying a $7 million fine, to be divided among the states involved in the settlement. But more interestingly for our purposes, Google has also agreed to some privacy initiatives that are unlike those we’ve seen before in the context of FTC consent decrees (the FTC apparently ended its investigation of the Street View issue without imposing a fine). The settlement requires Google to conduct more robust privacy training for its employees and to create and promote a public service announcement instructing consumers on the importance of securing home Wi-Fi networks.


Consumer groups are (predictably) unimpressed by the idea of having Google educate its users about privacy. But on the other hand, maybe there's some wisdom in requiring (or encouraging) companies like Google and Facebook that collect large amounts of consumer data online to educate consumers about data privacy. Consumers clearly are willing to trust these companies with their personal information; perhaps they would also take notice if these companies encouraged users to take privacy more seriously. In order for the notice-and-choice model to be even reasonably effective at permitting consumers to balance their competing desires for privacy and services, consumers need to be well informed about the trade-offs and how to go about preserving the amount of privacy they want. To the extent that Google's privacy education campaign helps consumers get some of that information, it could be a positive development and a useful new tool for privacy regulators.