Google has urged a US appeals court to reverse a lower court decision that found that the company’s Street View programme violated the federal wiretap law.
Bloomberg reported that the ruling was part of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of residents in nine US states whose homes were depicted on Google Street View, which enables users see photographs of roadsides.
According to Bloomberg, Google’s attorney Michael Rubin told a three-judge US Court of Appeals panel that "Under any plausible interpretation of the Wiretap Act," the uploading "is not a Wiretap Act violation."
In May 2010, Google said it had mistakenly collected data from open wireless networks when it captured images of roads and houses for Street View programme.
Earlier this year, Google agreed to pay $7m to settle with 30 US states over its collection of passwords and other personal data through its Street View mapping cars from home Wi-Fi networks.
The $7m payment will be shared among the states involved in the investigation.
In 2012, the US Federal Communications Commission fined Google $25,000 for obstructing its investigation into the matter.
In April this year, German data regulators fined Google about €145,000 for illegally collecting personal data through unsecured Wi-Fi networks, during its development of Street View service.