“CNIL launched an investigation last month into Google’s recording of traffic carried over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, and has begun examining the data Google handed over as part of that investigation,” Sayer reports. “Google revealed on May 14 that the fleet of vehicles it operates to compile panoramic images of city streets for its Google Maps site had inadvertently recorded traffic from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Google’s intention was only to record the identity and position of Wi-Fi hotspots in order to power a location service it operates, the company said. However, the software it used to record that information went much further, intercepting and storing data packets too.”
Sayer reports, “At the time, Google said it only collected “fragments” of personal Web traffic as it passed by, because its Wi-Fi equipment automatically changes channels five times a second. However, with Wi-Fi networks operating at up to 54M bits per second, it always seemed likely that those one-fifth of a second recordings would contain more than just ‘fragments’ of personal data.”
Full article here.
Erik Von Schmidt, you are a third Reich bastard – and You Vant the Vorld to Trust you?
Bad Google! Bad Google!
People, if Google can do this, so can anyone. Even Big Brother.
And yet the fandroids think Steve is evil but this is ok.
Unbelievable, how do you “accidentally” steal someone’s data. I bet that if I “accidentally” hack Google’s servers and still people’s data, the FBI will be knocking on the door. There’s no reason to collect any data while they captured the street view.
steal not still…… I wish we had an edit button 🙁
If you rearrange Google’s catch phrase “Don’t Be Evil”, you end up with “I am Lord Voldemort”. It’s horribly misspelled however.
An act of hubris by a company that has grown too much…
But guys it’s all FREEEEEEE!
You gan drust Mr. Smithers, but must hate Jobs, must hate Jobs, must hate Apple…. must hate…
Sounds evil to me…
That`s just the tip of the iceberg…
http://precursorblog.com/
Google=Gulag
you gotta be sh*tting me? Google has to take some serious heat for this!
@ Jersey_Trader:
Google _is_ Big Brother.
Facebook is Little Brother.
Evil!
I do not get why people love and trust google.
They have all your search info, they want all your web viewing data(chrome), they want all your email data(gmail), they want all your phone use/location data(android) and all your tv viewing data.
Now, they are driving around taking what you won’t give them.
They are scary.
People…
Be real here.
Google was not hacking into anything. These were packets picked up from OPEN, UNENCRYPTED WiFi systems. Anyone stupid enough to have there systems unprotected like that has absolutely no right to complain that their information was recorded by Google.
It’s no different than if you take the front door off your house. You have no right to complain that someone walks in, sits down and starts watching TV on your set.
Mac news how?
<Flame Suit>
Ok maybe I am missing something here but if a person is broadcasting this info with NO security isn’t it kind of their own fault? Did Goog have special/illegal hardware/software?
Let me put it this way, if I write my SSN and my bank acct # and tape them to my window and Target walks by and copies the info, is it Targets fault or mine?
</Flame Suit>
I’m not trying to be a wise a$$ or start a flame war, just curious as to why in this instance Goog did wrong by gathering info that was floating around?
@G
If someone leaves their front door unlocked it doesn’t give someone the right to walk in and take whatever they want.
If you do not want people to access or record your personal data, then do not broadcast it unencrypted over Wi-Fi (or any other radio frequency). They did not “steal” anything in my opinion (although that might not be true in legal terms), they just collected information that people were streaming into the ether. The primary concern should be public education, because many of these people are likely unaware that their wireless networks are unlocked, much less the implications.
Anyone with a Wi-Fi receiver can do the same darn thing. And if they are willing to sit around for a while to collect a sufficient number of packets, they can probably crack the encryption for most consumer wireless networks using available tools.
I have not seen any evidence that Google was parsing the Wi-Fi data searching for personal data, and I have no reason to believe that was/is the case. From Google’s perspective, they *were* only collecting fragments of data, and that data was extraneous to their actual purpose of creating a Wi-Fi location database.
Please don’t go overboard on Google like a pack of lemmings. As the saying goes, news is neither as good nor as bad as it first appears. Or, as they say in scuba training, breathe slowly, deeply, and continuously.
@Macromancer
Very good point but Goog didn’t B&E;it just drove past and looked at trash that people left sitting at the curb.
Now if Goog had special hardware/software that cracked security (locked door) that would be different.
Would you be angry at the garbage collector if they happen to notice that you like (insert your product here) because when they took the lid off of your rubbish can they saw the box it came in?
BTW Like most I am really starting to despise Goog but in this case *maybe* they aren’t the bad guys
@ HMCIV
Lol! That was very good. Nice Riddle.
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Oops! I accidentally switched to Bing!
@ChrissyOne
Very funny C1. Thanks for the laugh.
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I wonder if Google supplies info to any U.S. Government agencies.
In Canada, someone was arrested, tried and convicted of theft for sitting in the car in front of someone’s house and surfing on their unencrypted WiFi.
So, it is stealing.
So by our great bloggers analogy:
If someone dresses like a whore, you have the right to……..?
No, it’s still rape.
If I leave my front door open……?
No, it’s still trespassing and they can be arrested.
Get real.
inadvertently ???!!!
@clinicaltechmaster….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020304057.html?wpisrc=nl_tech
decide for yourself
You’d have to be one of very low moral standards to argue that it is in any way acceptable to take data by any means from someone else without their explicit approval. “Open unencrypted wifi” isn’t a special exception to this basic tenet of human decency.
… and as we all know, datamining operations don’t give a damn about being decent, or honest, or trustworthy, or transparent. Google is no different than any other hacker-for-hire that takes from you and sells to somebody else. Google’s only real success is that they matched Wall Street greed with consumer gullibility to establish a supposedly-legitimate corporation (which encourages further consumer gullibility, and further Wall Street support).
As well, I find this quite troubling…
http://precursorblog.com/content/googles-total-information-awareness-power-a-one-page-graphic-all-information-google-has
relevant sentence:..
“It is important to remember that all the information Google has collected and analyzed is potentially available to the U.S. Government via Patriot Act and other powers.”
Do no Evil my ass
For the Google apologists, if it’s no big deal as you say, why are they being investigated for it in numerous different countries and over 30 different states?
Why is Google already asking that they be sued in one large class action suit if they did nothing wrong…
Fact is, they did do something wrong…As of right now we only have Googles “innocent mistake” version of what they did…Most people when they do something wrong tend to minimize what they’ve done… I’m sure Google is playing that card too…
@Lotus Eleven
“And yet the fandroids think Steve is evil but this is ok.”
Thank you for stating something that I thought should be painfully obvious to the knee-jerk Apple haters; but apparently isn’t.
I have read the majority of responses here and it does my heart good to know there are people out there who know that stealing is stealing. “Make sure you have your WIFI secured”. Well, I guess I need to make sure my doors and windows are locked at all times. Maybe I should go the extra mile and install metal bars. Jeez!! There was absolutely NO reason for Google to steal what was not theirs.
Google is Evil
Google email is safe? WRONG
Google Docs are safe? WRONG
Google Maps harmless? WRONG
Google Search harmless? WRONG
Evertyhing is being tracked. NOTHING is FREE!! Letting a single 3rd party know too much is not a good thing.
I think this is being overblown, but it is ironic that a company with the slogan “Don’t be evil” makes a mistake like this.
who cares? The govenment spies on us every day…
It’s interesting how some people believe they can broadcast their unencrypted signals on the public airwaves with the expectation of absolute privacy.
Hey optomist
How interesting do you find it that if you happen to not close your blinds or curtains enough that peeping toms can come look through you windows or that they can climb a fence to watch you swim in your pool? People must be stupid to think they have privacy in their house or yard. I know people who don’t have alarm systems in their house, how stupid is that. Finders keepers, losers weepers. Want to see a picture of your daughter naked?
I thought the purpose of the street view car was to gather pictures? Why would they even need to be collecting this type of data? Are we supposed to believe this was done on accident?
I was just getting that for a friend. The blonde wig?
Um. It was. Um, Community Theater?
Google creed is that whatever that are in the public domain they are free for the taking. I have heard such argument from Google’s advocates such as Jeff Jarvis, the author of ‘What would Google do?’ The Internet is a big jungle out there and there are little or no regulation to make sure that it is not being misused. That is why Google is the chief promoter of an unregulated Internet where it can ride roughshod practically over everyone, including governments.
The WiFi-gate scandal has Google speaking in forked tongues. Google was giving different versions of what really happened. It seemed that Google was at one stage trying to patent their wifi-collecting process. When the heat got too hot, the whole blame was dumped on one engineer. Now it seemed that even passwords and emails were being mined: these are encrypted data. How come? I thought only unencrypted networks were the only victims.
Expect the story to change from day to day as Google tries to wriggle itself out of the hole that it has dug for itself.
Totally agree with Mac-Daddio
Those that connect through an unsecured WIFI network may seen as ‘deserving’ to have their info stolen, but that does not mean it makes it right for any company / anyone to take it.
Supposing if I absentmindedly leave my door unlocked, it is still wrong if someone breaks in and steals my stuff
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Google is beyond ANY question, too powerful. It happened to IBM, to Microsoft, and if Steve is not careful it will happen to Apple. If AAPL surpasses XOM for any significant period of time while personally I think it would be great, there are downsides…some of which we can’t foresee.
Thanks, Ised. I find it hard to understand the rationale that it is OK for any entity (much less a search engine monopoly) to capture my information on a secure or unsecured wi-fi. The example of not squawking if I leave my blinds open and someone seeing me in my house is ludicrous. Of course I cannot complain about it. But, if a neighbor pointed a video camera at my house, I don’t think it is going to endear me to them.
For those who say they don’t care…fine. But, I do.
What Google did was EVIL. First, they did it…then they lied about it.
I for one am not going to support them going forward. They are WAY too big for our own good. This is not the first time and as long as nothing is said, it will not be the last. Beware.
@ChrissyOne
Nobody accidentally switches to Bing! Especially Stephen Colbert. http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-colbert-report/full-episodes/#clip310496 See after 2:00.
You can find, mark, and record the location of WIFI hotspots, without capturing packets.
In fact it is a totally different thing to go into promiscuous mode and start grabbing packets. They are LYING through their teeth..
“Anyone stupid enough to have there systems unprotected like that has absolutely no right to complain that their information was recorded by Google”
Anyone who is stupid enough to leave their girlfriend unprotected have no right to complain when their girlfriend gets raped.
There are actually asshats out there who think like this!
maybe it is the fault of those who leave their wifi open if someone sits outside their house and leaches their wifi. maybe this is just like leaving your house unlocked.
so by analogy, google designed a car which would *systematically* find every single unlocked house in the country, and go in and take photos of the people living in the house, regardless of what they were doing.
anyone who is ok with this is a fool.
Google say australias data is being held by private security company. Sure google you mean the evil organisation called the CIA… Sorry Google you have blown it, I will never trust u again.
It is Netgear, dlink and lazy router manufacturers that can and should setup each router with unique secure passwords out of the box. So that the dummy mum and dads that do not know how to setup these things areautomatically protected. Ps MDN app needs to incorporate spelling API, talk about lazy … Lol
“Anyone who is stupid enough to leave their girlfriend unprotected have no right to complain when their girlfriend gets raped.”
isn’t how these bloggers with zero journalistic integrity nor real training think? I fear SJ may he right one day that we will become a nation of bloggers and the
young minds who read their garbage may think it’s the correct way of thinking. I hope that never happens.
hmmm…passwords? What is Google going to do with those? Some more privacy invasions here: http://www.streetviewfunny.com