Germany Questions Google's Data ''Accident''
German officials aren't buying Google's excuse that it harvested WiFi data by accident.
Last week Google revealed that it had unintentionally collected WiFi data from open routers using its Google Street View cars. The data was only discovered when the German Data Protection Authority asked to audit the WiFi data collected by the Google Street View team. Google said that up until the time of the audit, it had been under the impression that it was only collecting MAC addresses and SSID information. However, the audit showed that Google had been collected fragments of payload data from open WiFi networks. Data collected by Google included emails and web addresses users were viewing. Google said that it would be deleting all of this extra data and said a third party would be brought in to ensure this was done in the correct manner.
However, it seems Peter Schaar, Germany's federal commissioner for data protection, and freedom of information, is not satisfied with Google's story.
"So everything was a mistake, a software bug! The data was collected and stored without the authorization of the project's managers or even the company's managers. If we go along with this story, this means the software was used without having been properly tested beforehand," he said, according to TGDaily.
Indeed, Germany is not the only country who has found issue with Google's behavior. The Irish Data Protection Authority Friday contacted Google and asked that all data accidentally harvested in Ireland be deleted. Google today confirmed that this Irish data was deleted over the weekend in the presence of an independent third party.
- DuPont Creates 50" OLED in Under 2 Minutes
- iPhone 4G in June with Cortex A8, More RAM
- Report: Browsers Still Leave Your Fingerprint
- The Pad That Makes Your USB Port Useless
- Retro Space Invaders Toaster Leaves an Imprint
- Tattoos to Help Diabetics Soon
- Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Map Pack Also $15
- Oopsie! Google Accidentally Harvested WiFi Data
- Gadgets Make People Happy -- Are You Happy?
- Wikipedia Founder Caught in 'Porn Purge' Debate
- Google Branded Sexist for Saying No to Cougars
- Japanese Couple Married by $68,000 Robot
- How to React to a Google Street View Car Drive-by
- Two More Crysis 2 Screenshots - The 'Halo Killer'?
- A/C + OLED = Twilight Air Purifier
- The Audi A9 Fan Artist's Concept: Coming Soon?
- Make Your Own Transparent Tablet PC
- The Three Winners of Power Challenge Contest
- Radiation Concerns About Airport X-ray Scanners
What a crock of BS! What was their intention of collecting any data other than street view pictures in the first place?
What a crock of BS! What was their intention of collecting any data other than street view pictures in the first place?
It's not like they were trying to crack into your router. Now if you did leave your router wide open, then it is probably the user's fault. In such a case, scrupulous individuals could just walk by your house and start hacking away. Such individuals would do more harm than google could ever do.
... in this one...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Google [...] -6807.html
... i had this post...
'Google's street view cars had been accidentally collecting data from open WiFi networks??? Yeah... right...'
... it seems, i'm not alone in this one... the big google is watching you...
More then likely they just wanted to obtain websites visited by most people in order to figure out whats selling. Sneaky, but also helpful in their pursuit of global domination.
More then likely they just wanted to obtain websites visited by most people in order to figure out whats selling. Sneaky, but also helpful in their pursuit of global domination.
Well, that's the only thing I could possibly imagine that they'd even use the data for. Low regardless.
I love you Google, you've helped me countless times, but be careful were you walk, the ice is thin and melting this time of year.
I stand by Google with this one. They probably were doing other experiments or collecting data for research purposes without intention of harm. Since they planned to have a car drive by every road in the world, they might as well try to make more use of the opportunity.
meh
User's fault for not securing the network.
Hilarious.
While we are at it, could someone explain me please, what was the benefit of having "google cloud" between my PC and my printer again?
Was it that "I don't have to install drivers"?
It's not like they were trying to crack into your router. Now if you did leave your router wide open, then it is probably the user's fault. In such a case, scrupulous individuals could just walk by your house and start hacking away. Such individuals would do more harm than google could ever do.
Yeah. Bad router manufacturers caused Apple's IPad to misbehave and now we have bad router owners, who could do so much more harm than google could ever do...
Very evil the routers are...
It's not like they were trying to crack into your router...
You know, on second thought, if you reread:
"...it had been under the impression that it was only collecting MAC addresses and SSID information..."
doesn't it mean they "accidentally collected" something they were under impression not to be collecting?
Could it be, that they were also, uhm, hacking? Of course "accidentally" and again under impression that they weren't really hacking.
if you have no idea how to set up a secure WiFi then don't get a wireless router or ask someone who knows how to do that. Are they gonna sue the neighbour who is connected to their unprotected wifi cuz he/she didn't ask permission to do that? Cmon! People should use common sense especially these days....
The Germans Know Better !!!! Google trying to own the world.
I think they were trying to find hotspots near public businesses so that when you view the area, it could tell you if a hotspot was available.
A tricky area. Bad enough "war-driving" but they stepped over the line when they collected "payload" information. I agree with German authorities that this was no "accident."
Otherwise we have to believe that "nobody" at Google knows what they are doing and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near developing software and deploying it into the field for use.
Anybody believe that of Google? Hands anybody?
They knew "exactly" what they were doing and were hoping that nobody would notice.
BAD Google! You are joining Facebook in the "not to be trusted" void.
obviously its stupid of the users not to secure their network but does that mean anybody can abuse their incapability of setting up a wifi properly?
does an unlocked car give you the right to steal it? pretty sure not! does it mean nobody will do it? no, people will steal it, but it certainly does not mean they wont get sued for stealing it.
Why collect payload data? More than likely an unintentional byproduct of collecting SSIDs and MAC addresses (i.e. grabbed a packet or whatever that contained all three). Why collect SSIDs and MAC addresses? Google maps on iPod w/o GPS can jump to and/or track your location based on looking up router SSIDs and MAC addresses in the big, bad, Google database. My feeling is it has equal measures of coolness and objectionableness.
Food for thought. If all wireless router provided a low-bandwidth open channel with restricted access (to Google maps and a select few other trusted services) then you wouldn't need to launch GPS satellites in order to be able to navigate in most urban areas.
All this being said, it's good to know that there's some oversight in these matters, that Google got caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing, and that they hopefully won't be doing it anymore.
http://www.reputationdefenderblog. [...] skynet.png 'nuff said