Google faces WiFi 'snooping' probe

data from WiFi networks, The Telegraph reports.

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is responsible for enforcement of the Data Protection Act, said it was studying a report on the incident by the Federal Communications Commission, its US counterpart.

The report, published last month, cast doubt on claims by Google that it had only inadvertently harvested personal data.

Digital Spy writes that the FCC said a Google engineer, not named but understood to be Marius Milner, had created special software that could "collect, store and review payload data for possible use in other Google projects".

In 2009 and 2010, the software is said to have been used to intercept information from unsecured WiFi networks as the Street View car passed nearly all homes in Britain.

In November 2010, Google agreed to allow the ICO to audit the firm's privacy practices, Computer Weekly writes.

The first audit was published in August 2011. The ICO plans another audit this year to ensure Google is following its recommendations.

Google was fined for impeding the FCC's investigation into the Street View project, but still claims project leaders did not want or intend to use the data collected.