Google Wi-Fi Spy Lawsuits Head to Silicon Valley

Whether Google is liable for damages for secretly intercepting data on open Wi-Fi routers across the United States is to be aired out in a Silicon Valley federal court.

Eight proposed class actions from across the country that seek unspecified monetary damages from Google were consolidated this week and transferred to U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California. Another five cases are likely to join. The lawsuits allege that Google violated federal and state privacy laws in collecting fragments of data from unencrypted wireless networks as its fleet of camera-equipped cars moseyed through neighborhoods snapping pictures for its Street View program.

The consolidation decision by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is likely to spark a legal frenzy by attorneys involved in the cases, as they jockey to win over Judge Ware and garner lead counsel status. That would give those lawyers intense media attention, as well as the biggest share in legal fees from a verdict or settlement.