Privacy groups and lawmakers are calling for a new and broader investigation into Google and its privacy practices after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it found no evidence that the company broke eavesdropping laws.

Late last week, the FCC reported that there was no legal precedent to find fault with Google collecting unprotected home Wi-Fi data, such as personal email, passwords and search histories, with its roaming Street View cars between 2007 and 2010. However, the FCC did fine Google $ 25,000 for obstructing its investigation.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a national privacy watchdog, disagreed with the FCC findings. In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today, EPIC asked that the Department of Justice investigate Google's surreptitious collecting of Wi-Fi data from residential networks. U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, a senior member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, has also stepped into the fray.

"The circumstances surrounding Google's siphoning of personal information leave many unanswered questions," Markey said today in an email to Computerworld. "I believe Congress should immediately hold a hearing to get to the bottom of this serious situation."

Internet: <www.computerworld.com> (adapted).

Google has been imposed a penalty for obstructing an investigation by a US regulatory agency into its controversial data collection for its Street View project.