Tech group warns court ruling against Google could be 'devastating' for economy

A technology-focused think tank is urging a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision to allow a privacy lawsuit against Google to move forward.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco concluded that unencrypted Wi-Fi signals are not “readily accessible to the general public.” As a result, the court ruled that Google may have violated federal wiretapping laws when it collected unencrypted Wi-Fi data as part of its Street View project. But in a brief, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) warned the court of "the devastating consequences its ruling will have on all aspects of the economy that rely on wireless technology infrastructure, including but not limited to healthcare, financial institutions, retailers, and residential computer users." The advocacy group argued that the decision puts standard industry security practices into legal question. Information technology professionals regularly scan Wi-Fi data to combat hackers and identify security problems, the group wrote.