UK's Turn To Worry About Google's Gathering Of Harmless, Public Wi-Fi Information
from the regulators-should-understand-the-technology-they're-regulating dept
We just got done exploring how German privacy regulators are "horrified" about how Google is (just as many other companies have been doing for years) gathering publicly-available Wi-Fi hotspot data for GPS triangulation and localized search. Of course the data being collected can't really identify users outside of their router brand preference and use of nerd SSID humor -- but that didn't stop a flood of hysterical articles that assumed Google was using this data for some nefarious purpose. As if on cue, Germany's complaints have now drawn the attention of UK regulators -- who say they're now going to quiz Google about the practice. While Wi-Fi clearly confuses many regulators and the press (look at the usual reaction to war driving), it is important that Google is transparent about this process, but so far there's every indication they're doing a good job on that front. The company posted another blog post this week and sent this filing (pdf) to privacy regulators in multiple countries highlighting exactly what's being collected, what it's being used for, while reiterating that the data can't identify specific users and isn't being published. So the question then is: how long before U.S. and other European regulators start to freak out?
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Filed Under: google maps, united kingdom, wardriving
Companies: google
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"Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
As a whole, yes they are harmful, they enjoy a monopoly and power is corrupting them just as it always corrupts companies in that position, they are the Microsoft of 1996 all over again and deserve more scrutiny/skepticism, not less.
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Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
[citation needed]
I'm still mystified as how people can claim that taking pictures of things that are in full public view is a privacy violation, let alone how it could be causing actual harm.
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Re: Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
The privacy is lost in a distributed way, so no single event is a major breach. All of them collectively is, though.
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Re: Re: Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
Again, in this instance, all you'd know about me is that I'm not creative when naming my Linksys router. There's no data here being published, and the data that exists isn't really useful as any kind of personal identifier.
That's not to say there aren't instances of data collection that definitely need watching.
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Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
This article, and the word harmless, have nothing to do with the photos, but the (again) PUBLIC Wi-Fi information being gathered.
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Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
There's a difference between bias and opinion.
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Re: "Harmless" is subjective and leading... oh, and incorrect
Could you name some?
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so
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Re: Re: so
This is an era where AT&T hands over every byte directly to the NSA, and your ISP sells your clickstream data to the highest bidder with little to no substantive consumer protections in place.
Worrying about elevated photographs of your front door strikes me as curious.
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Is that because the WiFi AccessPoint you have is pointed out the window, and visually can be seen behind you?
I'm not complaining, I just find it interesting that Google/Apple's CoreLocation system works this way.
If I would have known, I would have moved my AP.
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Do you reall know what you are talking about?
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