Google has lost a court bid to dismiss a class-action lawsuit over collection of Wi-Fi packet data by its Street View fleet in 2010.
The US Supreme Court has refused to consider Google's challenge to the lawsuit, meaning that the case must go ahead, USA Todayreported.
Google had argued that the USA's Wiretap Act, which bans the interception of electronic communications, does not apply to communication that is readily accessible to the general public.
But both a federal and appeals court judge have rejected this argument, and the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.
The lawsuit stems from a 2010 incident in which Google admitted to collecting fragments of packet data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks using its fleet of Street View cars.
Google maintains that the data collection was a mistake caused by errant code, and that the company had meant to be only collecting basic data such as Wi-Fi SSID information or MAC addresses.
But the revelation sparked investigations and legal action in multiple markets, including dozens of individual US lawsuits that have been consolidated into the single class-action suit.