Everything above kilo (1,000) is expressed with a capital letter so Mb and Gb; mb is millibytes (one thousandth of a byte) - Guardian correction
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Google wants to keep stolen WiFi data
INTERNET DATA SUCKING Google will have to make a difficult choice when it comes to dealing with all the data it has nabbed from insecure WiFi connections.
Public outrage against the firm ensued when it admitted to scooping up data from unsecured wireless networks through vehicles which were supposedly just being used to capture photos for its Street View service. The data was then stored on hard drives, which the firm has now been asked to hand over to various governments.
Google ignored last week the first deadline set by German regulators to fork over hard drives containing the data it had collected in Germany, and is apparently working towards a compromise after its lawyers advised the company not to comply. Unsurprisingly, handing the data over to governments isn't welcomed by some Internet subscribers and organisations either, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Some governments, including that in Britain and some states in the US, have asked the firm to retain the data, presumably because they think that one day they will be able to force Google to hand it all over. The firm wasn't willing to detail what compromise it will pitch to the governments, but said it will propose something this week.
Google's image of a company that's insensitive to privacy has come under further fire with its admission that the same Street View cars used to snoop on WiFi data were also used to map the location of every WiFi access point in the United Kingdom.
The procedure, which was kept hush-hush until its admission of WiFi data snooping, allows users of Google Maps to locate themselves without using a Global Positioning System (GPS). The firm has mapped the location of Media Access Control (MAC) addresses to Service Set IDs (SSID), although the company is quick to say that its publically available data doesn't include the house number of the access point.
A spokesperson for Privacy International told the Daily Telegraph that the "ghost of Street View" continues to haunt Google, but judging by the trouble it faces in trying to balance the demands of governments against the privacy of WiFi users, headache might be a more accurate description.
Google has never been particularly good when it comes to privacy, having stored users' search data for years before it was forced to curtail that to a mere 18 months. In a bid to present apparent anonymity after nine months, Google removes the last octet in IP addresses, which might still allow users to be identified. µ
Tags: Google
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Correction: make that 'teaching them a lesson', not sure why I said learning, weird.
These comments from Brian Jones and the like remind me of the insanity I hear from the cops lately in folders and articles they put out, they tell you to keep your curtains closed and not put valuable items on the table in your home because it invites passerby lowlifes to bash in your window and walk off with the goods...
Talk about losing the clue, literally and figuratively, instead of being busy catching these lowlifes and learning them a lesson they go around and bother citizens that they aren't dug in in a nuclear bunker.
Just because you have a network does not mean you approve of international conglomerates to come and snoop on you, it's that freaking simple.
I was stealing Radio 4 data on my way to work, I might steal some heat radiated by the sun later.
This is just outrage for outrage's sake!
doh, im stupoid cuz im stupiod. i should sew google cuz im stooped daaarrggh.
Personally I like what Google have done here. I can take my Android phone out in a building with no GPS coverage and my maps app locates me to within 50meters.
However, on the other hand, if it is illegal the Google should not be let off.
Another thing to mention is when you connected to a WiFi network, an android phone will start using GPS to find out where the network is and possibly report back to Google...Oh the controversy gets deeper!
Personally I don't care who knows the geo position of the wireless MAC address on my router!
This entire thing seems to be much ado about nothing to me. Who cares if google kept a bunch of data that they acquired ? You, me, a/the government, or practically anyone else can do the nearly exact same thing if they want to. If the German government wants that data then let them go acquire it for themselves. Apparently it isn't that difficult.
Although, one could make the claim that acquiring that data is illegal in the first place. In the USA it is. There have been people prosecuted for illegal use of a computer network when they used someone's wireless access point without permission and that is EXACTLY what google did in this case.
In my opinion, google should either be prosecuted for doing this if it actually is illegal in Germany and they should delete the data. I do not think they should be required to give it to anyone and I don't think they should keep it either.