Oregon Public Broadcasting

A federal judge in Portland has issued a restraining order stopping Google from destroying certain data.

The data was recorded while company staff drove along streets taking pictures for Google map applications.  Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

Google says it accidentally collected information from private wifi networks while taking pictures. 

But the company hasn't released details on what that information is exactly.

Some worry it could include unencrypted passwords or other private details about what web pages people were visiting when Google drove past.

The company said it was talking to government agencies and privacy experts about the best way to dispose of the data. But residents of Oregon and Washington filed a class action suit to stop any destruction of the information.

That's so it would be possible to see just what Google collected.

Portland federal judge, Michael Mosman, has now ordered the company to make a copy of all the data and hand it over.