Google SV WIFI collect
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Google's public version of events of how it came to secretly intercept Americans' data sent on unencrypted Wi-Fi routers over a two-year period doesn't quite mesh with what the search giant told federal regulators. If Google had its way, the public would have never learnt that the software on Google's Street View mapping cars was "intended" to collect payload data from open Wi-Fi networks. A Federal Communications Commission document disclosed 28 April showed for the first time that the software in Google's Street View mapping cars was "intended" to collect Wi-Fi payload data, and that engineers had even transferred the data to an Oregon Storage facility.
A dissection of Google's Wi-Fi sniffing debacle
Prashant Iyengar on how in the eyes of the law, the internet giant is like the homeless in India. This article was published by Tehelka on June 4, 2011. However, this technology has also raised interesting privacy concerns in countries where it has previously been launched. In April 2008, shortly after the service was first launched in the US, Google was sued by a couple who objected to the pictures of their home being publicly displayed. This suit was settled out-of-court two years later.
A Street View of Private and the Public
G facing new Wifi Investigation
Google engeneer identified
Google Staff Knew Of WiFi Snooping, Report Says
30 April 2012 Last updated at 04:17 ET The data was collected by Google's Street View car between 2008 and 2010 The Google engineer who wrote a program that collected personal data from wi-fi networks told at least two other colleagues, a report has revealed. Google released the full investigation conducted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Agreement reached in Belgium
CNET SV cars grabbed locations of phones,PC'
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U.S., European regulators do not share Google Street View concerns
As recently reported by the Washington Post and others, the FTC has ended an inquiry into privacy concerns over Google's Street View service after Google pledged to stop gathering email, passwords, and other information from residential WiFi networks as its Street View cars creep through neighborhoods with computers on and cameras rolling. For some background on the issue, here is a timeline of related events and announcements:
Google SV Australia
Google's global privacy counsel provides a detailed explanation about what data Street View gathers, including Wi-Fi signal information: As I wrote about last week , Germany's data privacy commissioner raised an alarm at Google scanning and recording data about Wi-Fi networks as it drives around snapping Street View pictures. The commissioner is off base in stating that publicly identifiable information is being grabbed, but perhaps it's better that a privacy czar errs on the side of the public at times. Google's corporate counterpart to that commissioner, Peter Fleischer, penned a blog entry in which he explains in excruciating detail precisely what data is being collected in what fashion. He writes, in response to the ersatz question, "Is it, as the German DPA states, illegal to collect WiFi network information?"
Google Explains Its Street View Wi-Fi Gathering Operation - Wi-F
Submitted: June 11, 2010 - 8:27am Last updated: June 11, 2010 - 8:28am Location: Capitol Building , East Capitol Street, NE and 1st Street, NE , Washington , DC , 20002 , United States Google is determined to "learn all the lessons we can" from a major privacy breach in which it may have collected users' personal information from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, the company said in a letter to House Commerce Committee leaders on June 8. Google sought to downplay the danger of the breach in response to a list of questions in late May from Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member Joe Barton (R-TX), and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA).
Google letter to lawmakers says "sorry" for Wi-Fi breach, downpl
Google is determined to "learn all the lessons we can" from a major privacy breach in which it may have collected users' personal information from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, the company said in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders on Wednesday. In a copy of the letter obtained by The Hill, Google sought to downplay the danger of the breach in response to a list of questions in late May from committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.). The Internet giant owned up to the error while seeking to ease concerns about any harms it had caused, noting that the breach arose while it was systematically collecting Wi-Fi network information. This practice led it to mistakenly grab data running over those networks, it said. "In retrospect, it is clear there should have been greater transparency about the collection of this data," Google said of its Wi-Fi collection program.
Google letter to lawmakers: 'Sorry' for Wi-Fi breach, downplays
Google SV US
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Google SV Germany
Google SV France
Google SV UK
Google SV Canada
Google SV Czeck
StreetView passed by Kiwi cops
Police in New Zealand have bounced a complaint about Google's StreetView service back to the country's Privacy Commissioner. The Privacy Commissioner formally referred StreetView's unauthorised collection of Wi-Fi data to the police in June so cops could decide whether a crime had been committed. Police said there was no evidence a crime had been committed. But they did say it was a timely reminder for people to switch on their Wi-Fi security in order to stop data being slurped "either inadvertently or for more sinister purposes".
related to: Google Street View Under Fire for Privacy in Germany
Google Street View Under Fire for Privacy in Germany www.ubergizmo.com | discovered: Wed 11 Aug 2010 11:09:00 PM CEST | published: Wed 11 Aug 2010 11:39:16 PM CEST Google Gives Advertisers Direct Line to DirecTV [Voices] voices.allthingsd.com | discovered: Wed 11 Aug 2010 09:19:00 PM CEST | published: Wed 11 Aug 2010 08:55:06 PM CEST Google Alarm for Firefox Screams Every Time Google Spies You [Privacy] gizmodo.com | discovered: Wed 11 Aug 2010 01:23:00 PM CEST | published: Wed 11 Aug 2010 01:10:00 PM CEST
Google's roving Street View spycam may blur your face, but it's got your number. The Street View service is under fire in Germany for scanning private WLAN networks, and recording users' unique Mac (Media Access Control) addresses, as the car trundles along. Germany's Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Peter Schaar says he's "horrified" by the discovery. "I am appalled… I call upon Google to delete previously unlawfully collected personal data on the wireless network immediately and stop the rides for Street View," according to German broadcaster ARD.
Google Street View logs WiFi networks, Mac addresses • The Regis
Google drive-by data scooping: updated
p2pnet view P2P | Advertising:- The fact Google ScoopMobiles are engaged in drive-by WiFi data gathering has touched a nerve. With Google. “Google may not care to pay attention to peoples’ (and governments’) concerns about its sneak view Street View advertising product but ‘Sharp criticism of Google in Germany has today prompted the UK’s privacy watchdog to quiz the firm over data its Street View cars have collected about Wi-Fi networks’,” said p2pnet earlier in the week, quoting The Register . “Officials from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will seek details and assurances about the practice”, it went on.By Hani Megerisi Posted on 23 Apr 2010 at 11:15 Google’s Street View car has come under fire collecting data on private Wi-Fi networks. As well as taking photographs for Google Map, the Street View car is also collecting users’ unique MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. This information could be potentially used by services such as Twitter so that it can identify where a tweet has come from.
Street View under fire for Wi-Fi hotspot snooping | Security | N
Data collected by Google cars
[ Editor's note, 5/14/10: This post contains incorrect information about our WiFi data collection (see * below). We have posted a clarification and update about our process on the Official Google Blog.] Over the weekend, there was a lot of talk about exactly what information Google Street View cars collect as they drive our streets. While we have talked about the collection of WiFi data a number of times before --and there have been stories published in the press --we thought a refresher FAQ pulling everything together in one place would be useful. This blog also addresses concerns raised by data protection authorities in Germany.WiFi data collection: an update
Posted by Alan Eustace, Senior VP, Engineering & Research (cross-posted from the Official Google Blog ) Nine days ago the data protection authority (DPA) in Hamburg, Germany asked to audit the WiFi data that our Street View cars collect for use in location-based products like Google Maps for mobile, which enables people to find local restaurants or get directions. His request prompted us to re-examine everything we have been collecting, and during our review we discovered that a statement made in a blog post on April 27 was incorrect. In that blog post, and in a technical note sent to data protection authorities the same day, we said that while Google did collect publicly broadcast SSID information (the WiFi network name) and MAC addresses (the unique number given to a device like a WiFi router) using Street View cars, we did not collect payload data (information sent over the network).Google SV Spain
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