• The New York Times, Tuesday, March 12, 2013 11:51 PM

Google has admitted that it violated consumers' privacy while creating Google Maps with Street View and has promised to clean up its act. As part of a settlement in a case brought against the online giant by 38 states, Google both acknowledged that it accessed the passwords, email and other personal information of unknowing users, and promised to make amends. For the first time, the company promised "to aggressively police its own employees on privacy issues and to explicitly tell the public how to fend off privacy violations like this one," reports The New York Times. Despite the $7 million fine, a slap on the wrist for Google, privacy advocates consider the settlement a win because changes at Google could influence the entire industry's approach to privacy.

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