The Federal Communications Commission slapped a $25,000 fine on Google, alleging that the Web giant "deliberately impeded and delayed" its probe into the data collecting policies related to the StreetView service. Google delayed the probe, which concerned e-mail, text messages and other private material gathered in connection with the company?s Street View location service, according to an FCC filing.

"We find that Google apparently and willfully and repeatedly violated commission orders to produce certain information and documents," the FCC said in the filing.

For three years starting in May 2007, Google collected content from wireless networks that wasn?t needed for its location-based services, the FCC said. Google gathered data including e-mail and text messages, passwords, Internet-usage history, and "other highly sensitive personal information," the FCC said.

In May 2010, Google said it would stop using Wi-Fi information for Street View, acknowledging that it had collected the information by mistake.