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Google In Trouble For Refusing To Hand Over Wi-Fi Data
International privacy problems heat up further...
Google recently found themselves in hot water after it was found that their Street View vehicles were accidentally collecting snippets of Wi-Fi traffic from unsecured hotspots. Google's now facing lawsuits and international pressure from privacy regulators, who can't seem to make up their mind whether Google should delete the data to protect privacy -- or save it for future use in criminal charges against Google. Google's now in trouble for not handing the data over to privacy regulators:
quote:
In a statement, Mr. Barron said Google had been working hard to address the concerns of data protection authorities around the world. He declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the legal issues preventing the company from complying with regulators’ requests. Google, based in Mountain View, California, has offered to destroy the data, but has not allowed regulators to see and verify what it has collected. Google has destroyed data collected in Denmark, Ireland and Austria at the request of local regulators.
In Australia, Stephen Conroy, the politician behind Australia's likely futile attempts to censor the Internet, is accusing Google of lying and of collecting the data on purpose. Google says while collecting public hotspot data (SSID, router MAC addresses), a bit of old code managed to collect 600 gigabytes of fragmentary data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in 33 countries and Hong Kong.
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Radioman991
join:2001-09-24
Dayton, OH

Radioman991

Member

Good Job Borg

"...after it was found that their Street View vehicles were accidentally collecting snippets..."

That company doesn't do ANYTHING by accident
45071419 (banned)
join:2006-07-30

45071419 (banned)

Member

Re: Good Job Borg

said by Radioman991:

"...after it was found that their Street View vehicles were accidentally collecting snippets..."

That company doesn't do ANYTHING by accident
Seriously, who believes this was by "accident" and that Google had no idea about the data.

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Re: Good Job Borg

Fact: There is no more internet privacy. If you are using a WiFi hotspot for banking or other sensitive data purposes, then shame on you.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 edit

cdru to 45071419

MVM

to 45071419
said by 45071419:

Seriously, who believes this was by "accident" and that Google had no idea about the data.
Raises hand. The data would be useless specifically to you, and even as a whole reveal extremely little.

They would only be in range of your AP for a few seconds, and their radios I believe change channels 5 times a second. That would basically mean that they were recording traffic for .2 seconds every 2 seconds. IF you were transmitting at that time and IF you had an unsecured AP, they would only have received a fraction of a "conversation".

From a marketing standpoint, that small amount of data is useless. It would be like trying to market a product to someone when you only overheard 3 words spoken about them out of context, or read every 10th word of a biography. They also can't reliably tie it back to you so that data they collect today would somehow impact what they deliver tomorrow.

Should they have collected the data? No. Should they just be let off the hook? Eh, probably not without at least slapping their fingers. Is it a giant megacorp conspiracy to invade your privacy? Please.

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

thender

Premium Member

Re: Good Job Borg

said by cdru:

Is it a giant megacorp conspiracy to invade your privacy? Please.
The reason a big deal is being made over it is because Google is a company that already treads a fine line when it comes to invading one's privacy.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler to Radioman991

Premium Member

to Radioman991
said by Radioman991:

That company doesn't do ANYTHING by accident
Yeah...companies never do anything by accident! But don't look at BP any day soon. I'm sure this whole oil spill was made to sell off lucrative oil slick sea foam!

Seriously. Try proving your conspiracy theories before passing out the tinfoil. What would Google have to benefit from fragmented WiFi data?
Radioman991
join:2001-09-24
Dayton, OH

Radioman991

Member

Re: Good Job Borg

Not a conspiracy theory. I worked for Google. They DO NOT do ANYTHING by accident...in spite of what the Google Kool-Aid drinkers think.

DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA

DavePR

Member

Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.

BKayrac
Premium Member
join:2001-09-29

4 recommendations

BKayrac

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?

Fluke
Premium Member
join:2008-06-24
Groton, CT

Fluke

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by BKayrac:

said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?
^^

calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA

calvoiper

Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

Hey, Dave -- I'm out in front of your house taking a picture of it!

RIGHT NOW!

C'mon on out and let's talk about why you think the color of your house is "private" when you smear it all over open view!

calvoiper

DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA

DavePR to BKayrac

Member

to BKayrac
It is a private communication, the same as a cordless phone or an analog cellular call. It is illegal to intentionally monitor such communications in the USA. Several wiretap and privacy statutes cover this. They make a point of not exempting "in the clear" communications. This was because "Radio Shack" sold phones and scanners. Rather than make phones more secure they made it a crime to listen to them.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

no its not. wifi is in public spectrum. its not private. especially if you don't make it private(ie secure it!).

TuxRaiderPen
A Warm Embrace
join:2009-06-02
Outer Rim

TuxRaiderPen

Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

Exactly. The OWNER'S responsibility, but nobody wants to take it anymore.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to ArrayList

Premium Member

to ArrayList
said by ArrayList:

wifi is in public spectrum.
So are most cordless phones BTW, I'm guessing that you mean unlicensed spectrum opposed to public spectrum.

DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA

DavePR

Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

Anything other than Broadcast and Public Service is considered Private. There is no requirement that you encrypt in order to have your privacy protected by law.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by DavePR:

Anything other than Broadcast and Public Service is considered Private. There is no requirement that you encrypt in order to have your privacy protected by law.
law only protects you so far. and ignorance is not a protection either.

bottom line: i have no sympathy for lazy people and I feel the law should not either.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

if some lazy fool wants to leave their wifi wide open and complain about people knowing about it its they're own fault
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to DavePR

Premium Member

to DavePR
said by DavePR:

Anything other than Broadcast and Public Service is considered Private. There is no requirement that you encrypt in order to have your privacy protected by law.
Seriously... did you just make that up, say it's so, so then it's so?

You do realize that there are things that are deemed public and you "don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy" and then things that you have "reasonable expectation to privacy" of, right?

If you're broadcasting your SSID on the public frequncy, ie: 2.4 or 5.8, that is considered public. If your SSID is set to transmit and someone captures that name, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy there.

But, please, google that information and post the laws that state anything but broadcast and "public services" (what ever you mean by that broad statement) and you'll get the answer... and then look up the above two frequencies and see where they fall in your definition.. At that point, this becomes a non issue.

In the U.S., I really don't think they're going to be able to do anything to Google about what they "accidentally" did as no one is harmed by it and really, what law did they break?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to openbox9

Premium Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

said by ArrayList:

wifi is in public spectrum.
So are most cordless phones BTW, I'm guessing that you mean unlicensed spectrum opposed to public spectrum.
yea thats what I meant thanks
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned) to DavePR

Member

to DavePR
said by DavePR:

It is a private communication, the same as a cordless phone or an analog cellular call. It is illegal to intentionally monitor such communications in the USA. Several wiretap and privacy statutes cover this. They make a point of not exempting "in the clear" communications. This was because "Radio Shack" sold phones and scanners. Rather than make phones more secure they made it a crime to listen to them.
NO its unsecrured OPEN
as in no passwords
as in no login OPEN AND FREE

why the fuss

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski to BKayrac

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to BKayrac
said by BKayrac:
said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?
Do you forget they are an advertising company? True they are unsecured but that gives them a right to collect data from it?

BKayrac
Premium Member
join:2001-09-29

BKayrac

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by ptrowski:

said by BKayrac:
said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?
Do you forget they are an advertising company? True they are unsecured but that gives them a right to collect data from it?
if people are going to throw a tissy over this, where they're own ignorance doesn't allow them to properly configure their router(which btw is VERY VERY EASY these days), what are people saying about the other stuff?

these people should get background checks and what not on themselves and see what shows up, i bet they'd really throw a tissy then

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by BKayrac:

if people are going to throw a tissy over this, where they're own ignorance doesn't allow them to properly configure their router(which btw is VERY VERY EASY these days), what are people saying about the other stuff?

these people should get background checks and what not on themselves and see what shows up, i bet they'd really throw a tissy then
I agree that they should learn how, but that doesn't in theory allow google to collect and store it.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

sure it does
if you leave 1million dollars sitting on your front yard and someone walkes off with 5 figures your to blame for leaving the money sitting out

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by DarkLogix:

sure it does
if you leave 1million dollars sitting on your front yard and someone walkes off with 5 figures your to blame for leaving the money sitting out
Bad analogy.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

ya not my best but hay would you leave lots of money just laying out where anyone can pick it up

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by DarkLogix:

ya not my best but hay would you leave lots of money just laying out where anyone can pick it up
I understand your point, but does that in theory still allow you to pick up the money?

Lagz
Premium Member
join:2000-09-03
The Rock

Lagz

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by ptrowski:
said by DarkLogix:

ya not my best but hay would you leave lots of money just laying out where anyone can pick it up
I understand your point, but does that in theory still allow you to pick up the money?
Nope. You would have to trespass (which is unlawful). Steal something that does not belong to you. @darklogix, If you leave your car in your front yard is it ok for someone to take your car or take something out of your car?
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to ptrowski

Premium Member

to ptrowski
Many states have laws that regard value of things found and mandates that you turn it over to authorities. IE: The stink they're going through with apple and their iPhone... I believe it's $600 in CA.. you find it, you can't keep it..
fiberguy2

fiberguy2 to BKayrac

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to BKayrac
My attitude is I could really care less..

Seeing my SSID on a google map is no more public information that posting on this board with my screen name... neither identify me as a person. Besides, even if someone saw my SSID on that map (and they're all there) what good does that do for them? So what... drive up my street and see it on your computer.. unless you're a hacker that SSID is not going to do you any good.. and, hackers really don't go looking on maps for wireless networks.. they simply find them and hack them.. I don't think they plot out what router they're looking for on a map..

... and really.. what are they going to do.. "Hey, look, there's a router that says LINKSYS... let's go get it!!!" For a while, mine said Linksys but it was still secured.

Literally.. big woop. I don't see why people are so upset over this.

DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA

DavePR

Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

They have your router cross referenced to your browsing and are feeding you advertising based on your web activity. They know about your health, your taste in porn, your politics, etc.

The ECPA forbids monitoring Part 15 devices, encrypted or not. Part 15 transmissions are by design not for public consumption. They are not "public" in the sense that radio and TV broadcasts are.

Augustus III
If Only Rome Could See Us Now....
join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA

Augustus III to BKayrac

Member

to BKayrac
said by BKayrac:

said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?
are you actually callous enough to suggest that your information is public because there wasnt a password on the ap???????????

what dimmension do you live in?

BKayrac
Premium Member
join:2001-09-29

BKayrac

Premium Member

Re: Google "Accidentally" Logs Your Router's Address

said by Augustus III:

said by BKayrac:

said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
this stuff is from unsecure wi-fi.................your data is open to anyone within range of the signal.......but because google did something it's terrible right?
are you actually callous enough to suggest that your information is public because there wasnt a password on the ap???????????

what dimmension do you live in?
you also forget that YOU choose to broadcast it.......so not only do you choose to broadcast it, but you choose to not protect it, lots of choosing the wrong thing here

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to DavePR

Premium Member

to DavePR
said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
Google NEVER claimed they collected AP mac addr & SSID by accident. They always admitted they did that on purpose to supplement GPS data to provide location info to mobile devices.

They only claim they collected user PAYLOAD info by accident.
nonymous (banned)
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ

nonymous (banned) to DavePR

Member

to DavePR
said by DavePR:

as they take a picture of your house?

They should be punished for such an unbelievable lie. They want to be able to triangulate on you to sell you stuff. Your data is not public property. Google has no right to it without your informed consent.
Be thankful it was only google. If it was unencrypted a criminal could do fun stuff with it like empty bank accounts etc. Then you would never even find them.
Google most likely did it by accident. Draining a few bank accounts wouldn't even make a dent in their income unless it was a competitor. Doubt MicroSoft transmits anything unencrypted.

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

Google is between a rock & a hard place. If you submit the data, they only further violate privacy by turning over their records (in the public eyes) and if they do not submit it, they can be violating some authorities request.

If they submit it, it can be used to further incriminate them & fit they do not submit it, it could be a further admission of guilt.

•••
ashman454
join:2004-03-10
Manassas, VA

ashman454

Member

and

And somebody wants to trust these people with our Medical records? FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

600gb in 33 countries

that is only 18gb per country. thats not much data.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: 600gb in 33 countries

well some countries are really small so 1gb could be alot of info in one country
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

1 edit

gaforces (banned)

Member

Outraged (not really)

Only the govt, (and telco's) are allowed to see this information. Maybe Google can use the patriot act and say it's in the national interest.

If Google goes down the telco's should too for this.

AnonEMouse
@rr.com

AnonEMouse

Anon

Non-Issue

To me, this seems like a bunch of people making an issue out of a non issue.

Google collected information on public roads, being broadcast on an unlicensed band, unencrypted, how is there anything wrong with that? The person broadcasting it should have used encryption, or not broadcasted if they did not want their signal intercepted.

This should be a lesson as to one of the many reasons you should encrypt your wireless, but I don't see anyone making a story out of that...

DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA

1 edit

DavePR

Member

Re: Non-Issue

said by AnonEMouse :

To me, this seems like a bunch of people making an issue out of a non issue.

Google collected information on public roads, being broadcast on an unlicensed band, unencrypted, how is there anything wrong with that? The person broadcasting it should have used encryption, or not broadcasted if they did not want their signal intercepted.

This should be a lesson as to one of the many reasons you should encrypt your wireless, but I don't see anyone making a story out of that...
The law says you can't intentionally monitor a point to point communication to which you are not a party. The only "public" communications, in this sense, are those broadcast by radio and TV stations, Amateur Radio, and unencrypted Public Safety (your police and fire). It is illegal to listen to an SCA. it is illegal to listen to a baby monitor. It is illegal to listen to an aural Studio to Transmitter Link. The law doesn't care if they are encrypted or not.

If Google doesn't like the law, they can buy some congressmen and get it changed. The way it stands now, they are intentionally intercepting private communications for monetary gain, behavior which is prohibited by law in the USA.

Try telling the judge it's OK you stole your neighbor's bike, because he left his front gate open.

AnonEMouse
@rr.com

AnonEMouse

Anon

Re: Non-Issue

I disagree with this analogy: "
Try telling the judge it's OK you stole your neighbor's bike, because he left his front gate open."

In the case of of an RF signal, I'm never physically stepping foot on his property, unlike the bicycle where I would have to physically walk on his property.

I don't believe the law is correct - people should understand when your RF signal comes onto public properly or private property, leaving your own - it can be subject to eavesdropping, this is why we have things like FHSS/DSSS and WAP/WEP.

I hardly doubt that one packet of wifi data, could be used for any monetary gain.

cpsycho
join:2008-06-03
Treadeu Land

cpsycho

Member

delete

Google should hand over the data to a moron who will then delete it by accident. Then google will just have to say, sorry we accidently deleted the data.

trent7
join:2005-11-28
Philadelphia, PA

1 edit

1 recommendation

trent7

Member

Can we get over this already!

Whenever a big company is involved in legal troubles, everyone comes out shouting and demanding they be screwed over even if it's over a small offense, if this can even be called an offense.
A few points:
1- 600GB from 33 countries during what I suppose is at least several months worth of data collection. That is NOTHING. And is further proof that what google collected is really just small snippets of data here and there from UNSECURED APs.
2- SSID and MAC address collection is perfectly LEGAL. Google never denied that they were doing it, nor did they try to hide it. In fact google aren't the only ones doing it. If you are so concerned stop using WiFi.
3- What would google do with that little data? Targeted advertising?!?!?! That's just dumb!!!! How can they even tell who you are to target you with whatever they supposedly caught you browsing? They can gain much better info about you by monitoring your google searches or any other google service you might use.

This is such a non issue that it's not even worth talking about. Privacy advocates, have much more to be worried about elsewhere, google included, just not on this stupid issue.
It just seems we are always outraged about the wrong thing, while being screwed by something else that we are completely ignoring.
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

gaforces (banned)

Member

Re: Can we get over this already!

Your probably right, this small amount of data is peanuts compared to what they already have on each and every one of us in their databases.
I'm guessing they already merged the data `accidently into many other databases.

Go Google
@myvzw.com

Go Google

Anon

Destroyed Vs Privacy

Lets see... Handing over anything to anyone who claims to be a regulator is anything but private. Google needs to just destroy the data and move on.
sragle
join:2005-08-08
San Jose, CA

sragle

Member

Re: Destroyed Vs Privacy

said by Go Google :

Lets see... Handing over anything to anyone who claims to be a regulator is anything but private. Google needs to just destroy the data and move on.
I agree, just delete the data before a bad person in the regulator decide to do bad with the data. I also feel that most people who own wifi in their home don't have a clue that their wifi is open to the public.

They need some kind of simple training video for these kind of people when they 1st plug in their wifi router/ap and must acknowledge that they understand the video.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Go Google

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to Go Google
once this came out they should have right then and there deleted all the data and then told people it has been deleted.

governments are only mad about this because Google collected it first.

Nhatters
join:2004-01-24
Oklahoma City, OK

Nhatters

Member

Privacy, Schivacy

These people with their non-secured networks obviously didn't care, so what's the fuss about?

gattaca
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
USA

gattaca

Premium Member

Non-issue

Hand over what, exactly?
Google was only collecting data transmitted over non-encrypted networks, and only while within range of the access point while driving by, AND only while scanning on correct wireless channel.

In other words, this data is VERY fragmented. What useful purpose could it possibly serve to collect? People need to get over what was clearly a coding error.

Companies as big as Google have repositories of already-written code, and it is clear that someone grabbed a piece of legacy code without fully understanding what it does. There is HARDLY any real privacy concern here and it seems VERY likely to have been purely accidental. A non-issue.

Just me
@ssa.gov

Just me

Anon

I bet most of the data collected is porn!

I bet most of the data collected is porn!

FLengineer
CCNA, CEH, MCSA
Premium Member
join:2007-06-26
Deltona, FL

FLengineer

Premium Member

Fault

If google is at fault for taking my wifi data, then "my neighbor" is at fault for P2P traffic on my network right???

If regulators pin this on google then they are open a very large door for P2P users. All you have to do is claim "my neighbor" downloaded that.

jig
join:2001-01-05
Hacienda Heights, CA

jig

Member

Re: Fault

said by FLengineer:

If google is at fault for taking my wifi data, then "my neighbor" is at fault for P2P traffic on my network right???

If regulators pin this on google then they are open a very large door for P2P users. All you have to do is claim "my neighbor" downloaded that.
this door has been open for a very, very long time. the problem in the suits that actually go to court (the only ones we see) isn't that someone else could have used the connection, its that the plaintiffs have at least circumstantial proof that the person using the connection was the defendant. such as, the defendant uses a username that they also use for their primary email address, or uses their primary email address as a password reset for a p2p account. the plaintiffs can subpoena all that based on just the WAN ip matching.

if the defendant can show that their WAP has been snarfed, and can sufficiently deflect circumstantial evidence linking them to particular p2p traffic, then they have a strong chance of beating an infringement claim, since juries and many judges are fed up with the suits. this has been the case for a long time.

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

EGeezer

Premium Member

Unfounded Rumour

I heard Google sold the data to Mary Kay, Avon, Amway, Rainbow Sweeper and Jehovah's Witnesses for door to door marketing
dclee9
join:1999-10-17
Walnut, CA

dclee9

Member

Not suing anyone for "accidential" logon to "linksys" SSID

I think internet access should be like utility that anyone can access it. I'm not locking my routers and I'm welcoming anyone that what to use my connection, it is "linksys" and it is not locked.

It should be classified as utility same as broadcast TV, water, gas, electricity and trash. Any runoff to public area is free for anyone to pick up. I think it's matter of public area VS private property.

Augustus III
If Only Rome Could See Us Now....
join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA

Augustus III

Member

Re: Not suing anyone for "accidential" logon to "linksys" SSID

said by dclee9:

I think internet access should be like utility that anyone can access it. I'm not locking my routers and I'm welcoming anyone that what to use my connection, it is "linksys" and it is not locked.

It should be classified as utility same as broadcast TV, water, gas, electricity and trash. Any runoff to public area is free for anyone to pick up. I think it's matter of public area VS private property.
I agree, just make sure you know what they can see. If you open your primary network, thats a little foolish, depending on where you live.
Ulmo
join:2005-09-22
Aptos, CA

Ulmo

Member

For crying out loud

I bet some of the sinister elements of Google are covertly championing this as the anti-Google effort, to drain whatever coffers there are for such a battle, because it is so meaningless. Recording public radio broadcasts on public streets is what Google is supposed to do: collect and organize information. This data is extremely useful for us to locate ourselves, even for emergency response, and for productivity, etc..

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

1 recommendation

David

Premium Member

Hell if they were interested in lack of privacy

they should have just bought facebook! they could have accomplished the same thing.

Google and facebook really deserve each other. One can't keep from giving out your data even though they are trying not to. The other had wi-fi snooping vehicles snooping data after they admitted to it.

Google would be just better off to fill the lack of privacy plate completely with just buying facebook.

badasawsom
@att.net

badasawsom

Anon

Re: Hell if they were interested in lack of privacy

seriously everyone seems to keep over looking the fact that has been stated a few times, the data they would get would be almost useless. If the connection is unsecure then you dont need to worry about google passing by you need to worry about the guy on the laptop next door who could be continually watching your connection.

The only semi useful info they might be able to get that has anything to do with your identity would be your MAC address, all that might help them do is survey what kinda of devices people use in that area.

You have to realize that almost any info they would get in a quick pass by of your house they can also get when you do a google search. Your facebook profile contains way more information on you than a few useless packets they picked up while you were surfing the web.