Google recently found themselves under fire from privacy regulators in multiple countries for the company's admission that they had been collecting Wi-Fi user data from unsecured hotspots using Street View vehicles. Google initially stated they only collected publicly available SSID and MAC Address data -- then later acknowledged that they were collecting snippets of actual transmitted data -- though Google insisted they did so accidentally. However, a UK review has found no real privacy harm was done:The UK's findings are in line with Google's admission that the equipment used changed channels roughly five times a second while the vehicle was moving.

In other words, while Google did intend to collect publicly available SSID and MAC information, most of the live Wi-Fi user data collected (from unsecured hotspots only) was largely useless. Google has admitted error and apologized for their screw up, though the company still faces inquiries in multiple countries and in the United States.