Man of Honour
- Joined
- 17 Nov 2003
- Posts
- 36,747
- Location
- Southampton, UK
It's not a big deal really.
Google admits wi-fi data collection blunder
- Thread starter movingtables
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Oct 2004
- Posts
- 9,086
- Location
- Berkland
Have we not had threads on this already?
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18145596&highlight=google+street+view+wifi
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18145596&highlight=google+street+view+wifi
Yes it really is. Internet giants are getting above the law, and it's a worrying trend.
Permabanned
- Joined
- 10 Dec 2008
- Posts
- 4,080
- Location
- London
So you wouldn't mind me knowing what you transmit over your WIFI then? Or does google kind of have a 'special pass'?
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 9,055
- Location
- In my penthouse, Park Ave
No they didn't because I'm not sufficiently dumb to run a non-encrypted wifi hotspot.
Still, it's not good for them or us though!
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 May 2005
- Posts
- 6,896
I don't see the problem.
Didn't some privacy company say it's like tapping your phone?
It's more like me being on the phone in the house with the window open and someone running past overhearing a snippet of my call.
Didn't some privacy company say it's like tapping your phone?
It's more like me being on the phone in the house with the window open and someone running past overhearing a snippet of my call.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 17 Nov 2003
- Posts
- 36,747
- Location
- Southampton, UK
1. I encrypt my traffic as should everyone else.
2. The data collected would only be for the length that the streetcar was in range which wouldn't be long.
3. They are not doing anything that my neighbour can't do, or anyone sat in a car across the road.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Oct 2004
- Posts
- 9,086
- Location
- Berkland
This thread... so good it exists twice! lol
Not anymore it doesn't! DOH!
Not anymore it doesn't! DOH!
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 17 Nov 2003
- Posts
- 36,747
- Location
- Southampton, UK
Pardon?
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Oct 2004
- Posts
- 9,086
- Location
- Berkland
Well it did till they were merged. Just bored of seeing the same news storey again. Sorry
No, it really isn't.
It, combined with Facebook's consumate idiocy, should be a wake-up call for the industry that privacy is not to be considered an optional extra, but the consequences (of Google's blunder) to the individual are best summed up by three words - none at all.
It would be nice if the publicity was sufficient to encourage people to secure their wi-fi though.
The far bigger issue to me is the forum glitch that just ate my post. Foiled by Ctrl+V! Ha!
It, combined with Facebook's consumate idiocy, should be a wake-up call for the industry that privacy is not to be considered an optional extra, but the consequences (of Google's blunder) to the individual are best summed up by three words - none at all.
It would be nice if the publicity was sufficient to encourage people to secure their wi-fi though.
The far bigger issue to me is the forum glitch that just ate my post. Foiled by Ctrl+V! Ha!
It was a honest mistake by Google, they dug up some code from the Google archive to use for the StreetView project rather than writing it from scratch. They had no intention of collecting this data but somehow they forgot to remove it or they weren't aware it was in there.
Didn't know they had to.
Not that I'm bothered, because (a) there's been no Google cars down my road yet and (b) my wi-fi is behind a 32-character WPA key.