The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a circuit court's ruling that found Google guilty of collecting people's emails and other personal information while developing its Street View program.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in September that Google was not exempt from liability for violating the U.S. Wiretap Act even if the data were collected accidentally. As Reuters noted, Google "inadvertently intercepted" emails, passwords, user names and other information from private wireless networks to create Street View, a program that delivers panoramas of city streets.

Google was accused of collecting data between 2008 and 2010. The search engine company apologized for the data collection in May 2010. The data collection affected more than 30 countries. Despite the apology, Google insists it didn't violate the Wiretap Act.

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With the Supreme Court decision, private lawsuits against Google could continue. After the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, a Google representative said the company was disappointed.

The Supreme Court's decision comes after Google petitioned to challenge the circuit court in late April. The circuit court stated that exemption under the federal Wiretap Act is possible if the intercepted data was limited to "auditory broadcasts," but not Wi-Fi transmissions.

"The Wiretap Act does not include an express definition of 'radio communication,' but for the reasons given in the petition, 'radio communication' must mean 'communication by radio,'" Google's legal counsel wrote in the petition.

Google had agreed to pay $7 million to settle an investigation about Street View data collection within 38 states and the District of Columbia. The settlement included a Google promise to educate employees about the privacy of consumer data. Google also had to sponsor a public service campaign to teach people how to secure Wi-Fi networks. Google agreed to destroy the "inadvertently intercepted" data.

Data collection and Google have been topics of debate. Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said he was "pretty sure" consumers' data were safe from surveillance.

"We are pretty sure that now the info inside of Google is safe from prying eyes, including those of the U.S. government," Schmidt said in March, but noted the company is still subject to the U.S. Patriot Act and even "secret" courts.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.