North Carolina is among 39 states to reach a settlement with Google over privacy concerns about the company's Street View feature.
Google used cars equipped with cameras and antennas to capture street level photos across the country from 2008 to 2010. Authorities say the vehicles gathered personal information over open wi-fi networks during that time.
"In broad terms, it might include URLs of web pages and possibly partial or complete email communications," says Kevin Anderson, head of the Consumer Protection Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice.
"...things like that were being transmitted to or from the network by the consumer."
The agency announced Wednesday details of the settlement, which totals $7 million for the states involved. It requires Google to destroy that data and run a privacy training program for its employees.
The company says it never used the information in its products or services. North Carolina's share of the settlement is $151,024.02. Google is worth $270 billion.
