The Federal Trade Commission in the US has ended its privacy investigation into Google Street View, despite the fresh revelations that emerged last week

Dave C. Vldadeck, the director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, has said in a letter the he is satisfied with the steps Google has taken to prevent a recurrence of the problems. These measure have included naming a director of privacy – Alma Whitten - and improving employee training.

The company also made assurance to the FTC that its has not used the data and promoted to delete it as soon as possible.
Last week Google revealed that its cars taking pictures along streets, which had also checked for Wi-Fi hotspots, had collected even more information about Internet users than it had first thought last spring. That data included passwords, e-mail messages and Web addresses carried on unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

Google suspended its Street View operation in May, but has since restarted. However, they no longer search for Wi-Fi data.
However, Consumer Watchdog, a US advocacy group, called the F.T.C.’s decision “premature and wrong.”

“Once again, Google, with its myriad of government connections, gets a free pass,” John M. Simpson, director of the group’s Inside Google Project, was quoted as saying in the New York Times.

The row first broke in May, when German data protection authorities discovered that Google was gathering consumer information that was stored in unsecured networks.

Meanwhile officials in the UK are considering re-opening their enquiry in light of the full extent of the data that was captured being revealed.