• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, April 14, 2011

The advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center is asking a federal judge to reject Google's argument that it broke no laws when its Street View cars intercepted users' unencrypted WiFi transmissions.

In papers submitted this week to U.S. District Court Judge James Ware, EPIC argues that even when WiFi transmissions are not password-protected, they remain subject to the 1986 federal wiretap law, which prohibits a company from intercepting communications without the consent of one party.

Congress intended for the wiretap law to "update and expand privacy protections for modern communications technologies," EPIC says in its papers. "The law should be understood to establish privacy safeguards for users of new communications services."

EPIC filed its brief on behalf of more than 12 consumers who brought a potential class-action lawsuit against Google. The litigation stems from Google's acknowledgment last year that its Street View cars mistakenly collected "payload" data -- including URLs, passwords and emails -- from WiFi networks that were not password protected.

Google apologized for the interception, and said it intended to destroy the data. But the company also says its collection didn't violate the federal wiretap law because that statute contains an exception for transmissions on networks configured to be "readily accessible to the general public." The search giant argues that because the networks weren't encrypted, they were readily accessible.

But EPIC argues in its friend-of-the-court brief that the exception was "narrow and intended to apply to amateur radio operators only." The organization adds that it makes no sense to apply that exception to people who create home wireless networks, given that they have a limited transmission range and "are not intended to be accessible to the general public."

EPIC also asked the FCC to investigate Google last year, arguing that the company "routinely and secretly downloaded user communications data."

In addition to the lawsuit and potential FCC probe, Google faces a 40-state investigation spearheaded by the Connecticut Attorney General. Plus, it is dealing with fallout abroad, where investigations have been underway since last year. Regulators in France recently fined Google $141,000 for the Street View data captures.