Google to be sued in US over 'snooping'

The Supreme Court has declined to hear Google's appeal of a ruling that it pried into people's online lives through their Wi-Fi systems as part of its drive to collect information for its Street View mapping project.

In 2010 Google admitted accidentally collecting personal data from unencrypted wi-fi networks while building its Street View program.

Its cars collected emails, usernames and passwords between 2008 and 2010.

According to USA Today, Google has been the subject of nearly a dozen civil actions. And those suing the search giant are now "pressing forward".

"In 2011, those lawsuits were combined in one class action in federal court in San Francisco," it said.

Google is accused of breaking the US Wiretap Act, which "regulates the collection of the content of wire and electronic communications" and restricts unauthorised interception.

Google argued the information collected fell under an "accessible to the public exception" clause, which permits the interception of electronic communication if it is readily accessible to the general public.

In an official blog post, the company said: "We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and are currently reaching out to regulators in the relevant countries about how to quickly dispose of it."

Google has already agreed to pay $7 million to settle an investigation into the matter, "involving 38 US states and the District of Columbia", according to a report from Reuters news agency.