30 States Mount Google Investigation

Just when we thought Google was unstoppable, the search-engine giant is facing a 30-state investigation for improperly collecting personal information. The charges come a month after the company revealed to German regulators that its Street View cars have inadvertently gathered data about people's online activities—including email addresses and passwords—from unsecured WiFi networks. Spearheading the inquiry in the U.S. is Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is running for Senate to succeed the retiring Chris Dodd. Blumenthal wrote in a statement on his website, "Google must come clean, explaining how and why it intercepted and saved private information broadcast over personal and business wireless networks." Christine Chen, a Google spokeswoman, had previously told The New York Times, "This was a mistake, but we don’t we believe we did anything illegal."