Is National Security Behind Google's Wi-Fi Spying?

How come we keep seeing the Government involved in so many internet ventures .

Perfect Citizen

The FBI and Blogerty(Questionable)

Obama wanting control

Obama wants your info


Foxnews
Has search and advertising giant Google been tracking you just to sell you stuff -- or is it because the U.S. government asked it to? A congressional hearing Thursday may have raised more questions than answers.

Since May, Google has been in hot water worldwide over the information it collected during its street-mapping projects. European regulators have been pressing the company since it was revealed that Google collected information from Wi-Fi networks as its street-view vans cruised neighborhoods around the globe. The information Google gathered included e-mail fragments and passwords, alarming politicians and privacy and security advocates in Germany, France, and Spain.

Recently, the Washington Post noted as part of a two-year investigation into America's intelligence community that Google supplies special mapping and search products to the U.S. military and intelligence community, with some Google employees enjoying top secret clearance to work with the government. That news has consumer advocates and politicians asking exactly what information Google has collected -- and why.

"Is there some relationship between Google and the NSA (National Security Agency)?" asked Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. "Was this data shared with intelligence agencies in America? It's a question. We just want a straight answer." The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) civil-liberties organization has also weighed in, demanding that Google "grow up."