Comments on: Google has mapped every WiFi network in Britain

By: JayKay

JayKay — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:40:07 +0000

How come my GPS is still shite where I live?!

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:11:57 +0000

It should be illegal to have an unsecured access point, if your data is made public, that’s fair game.

If I paint my credit card details onto the side of buildings, it would be a little naive of me to complain when somebody notes them down.

By: James M

James M — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:03:18 +0000

According to a BBC interview with Peter Barron, Google’s head of communications (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8684110.stm) the whole thing was a mistake on the part of Google (no bad intentions). Whether or not we can believe that is another point. Google says that it was “unintentional code” that was “left in by an engineer” essentially by accident… Cynics like myself say “yeah right”

By: nigel

nigel — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:55:06 +0000

The argument that the info is publicly available and therefore belongs to anyone is not good enough i’m afraid. ISP’s dont educate users when they install routers that they should and CAN turn off their broadcast let alone explain what an SSID is. It’s has to be an out and out lie that they though they wouldn’t need to tell anyone about this. There are massive privacy implications here that Google Inc must have been aware of but obviously made the decision to do it anyway and keep it under wraps. There should be massive fines doled out to Google from Brussels for this!

By: Jeff C

Jeff C — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:39:29 +0000

Would you pick up a walkie-talkie, press the transmit button and then say “Hello, my name is yyyyy and I live at xxxx and right now I’m downloading a stack of MP3s and porn!”.. no? So why do you think using WiFi is any less public? Ok, so you can encrypt it to a degree but I only have to switch on my laptop to see at least 10 or 15 wireless networks on my road and over half of them use their name or house number as the SSID – which leads me to think that most people couldn’t care less who knows whether they have a wireless network or not.

At the end of the day virtually every router has at least four hard-wired ethernet ports at the back so if you have an issue with someone “listening” to your radio broadcasts then use a bit of wire instead.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:38:41 +0000

I notice that many journalists fail to get excited by the awesomeness that Google has also rolled out and rather focus on the negatives as usual. I was dismayed to see that the beta SSL search was barely a blip on the radar, whereas this “privacy breach” was front page news in many technology sections, even though Google had made it’s stance on the collection quite clear and what it is doing about it.

This is common. The news loves to focus on the bad rather than the good unless it’s a slow news day, in which case they show squirrels on surfboards. Sadly most readers will just see “Google is stealing our privacy” rather than seeing the details for what they are.

Google’s position on the situation is here. : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html

By: roz

roz — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:28:28 +0000

let me take this opportunity to join google in wishing all us yanks a happy memorial day.

By: Dr Al

Dr Al — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:53:45 +0000

Cory R’s argument makes complete sense. A cleverly illustrated point.
.

By: ricky b

ricky b — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:37:17 +0000

It just winds me up that they have actually collected this information.

I work in IT, so naturally my network is locked down, but for the thing to work, you have to be able to see it’s MAC address, and yes, anyone could see this. The bit that winds me up is they’re using this for their own gain, and didn’t even think to consult me and ask if I mind people sniffing my network!

It’s my kit, for me to use, not you Google!

By: roz

roz — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:31:41 +0000

all our brains are belong to them! :0