Data Engineer in Google Case Is Identified

At the center of the uproar over a Google project that scooped up personal data from potentially millions of unsuspecting people is the company software engineer who wrote the code. Now a former state investigator involved in another inquiry into Street View has identified Engineer Doe.

The former investigator said he was Marius Milner, a programmer with a background in telecommunications who is highly regarded in the field of Wi-Fi networking, essential to the project. On his LinkedIn page, Milner lists his occupation as “hacker,” and under the category called “Specialties,” his entry reads, “I know more than I want to about Wi-Fi.” The former state investigator spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak. Although the Federal Communications Commission declined to identify the engineer, a footnote in the full text of its report said Google told the agency the identity of Engineer Doe “only because it had disclosed his name to state investigators on December 17, 2010.”