Google accused of criminal intent over StreetView data

[The Dragon Master]

Google is almost certain to face prosecution for collecting data from unsecured wi-fi networks, according to Privacy International (PI).



The search giant has been under scrutiny for collecting wi-fi data as part of its StreetView project.



Google has released an independent audit of the rogue code, which it has claimed was included in the StreetView software by mistake.



But PI is convinced the audit proves criminal intent.



The independent audit of the Google system shows that the system used for the wi-fi collection intentionally separated out unencrypted content (payload data) of communications and systematically wrote this data to hard drives. This is equivalent to placing a hard tap and a digital recorder onto a phone wire without consent or authorisation, said PI in a statement.



This would put Google at odds with the interception laws of the 30 countries that the system was used in, it added.



Full article and Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10278068.stm

 

[Crusader]

Good. I hope they get a heavy fine.

 

[Wolvendeer]

I think this is going just a bit too far. I mean, yeah, it's a big mess, and the fact that everyone is already afraid of Google doesn't help, but that's the risk you take when you leave your wireless signal open (and this is coming from someone who always leaves any wifi connection he has open for others to use). Furthermore, how much data could they have stolen when they only caught things while driving by in a car? It's not like they parked outside people's houses. >.>



I'm going to firmly side with Google on this one.

 

[Crusader]

Google are bastards. There is no other way of putting it. And the claim of we didn't know it was happening is complete bull shit.



They have no respect for your privacy, they have a monopoly over the internet. They know what you search, they know what you watch on YouTube, they know what you do on your Android phone, they know what you send via Gmail, they know what sites you visit from their ads on the sites.



How can you possibly side with them?

 

[Wolvendeer]

First of all, if you don't like Google, you don't have to use it. That said, I enjoy all of their services with the exception of youtube, who is afraid of hosting anything and will take it down at a moment's notice. Even that has had moves made to rectify it, though, so I simply upload the songs I like to Dailymotion to make sure they're available elsewhere and keep on going.



As to how I can side with them, it's quite simple. If you don't think half a dozen entities have profiles of what you do on the web, you're sadly mistaken. Entities that don't do a thing for you. Google, however, provides useful services on every front, and while I don't plan on using Google's health records service any time soon, most of the things I use are from Google or someone who will allow me to use my Google login like Zoho. Needless to say, this means that Google has a lot of computing power running so it can provide these services, and they have to pay for it somehow. Unlike some companies, they don't ever force their users to pay for any of their software, so that means they have to get their funding from somewhere else. Where does this come from? They extend their indexing and organizing of the web to the users so they can allow companies to go through them to get good targeted advertising, which they will pay for. Without Google's advertising abilities, they won't have the ability to support themselves, which means they go away. They might or might not make any significant amount of money through other means, but that's aside the point of this argument.



Now, as to the situation in particular, they had to have quite a team working on the software to make this particular project work. Because of this, things don't always happen correctly the first time. Features are suggested, worked on, and may be dropped. Bugs are found and fixed, and somewhere along the way code becomes lost in the jungle. It happens, especially with large software projects. It's a very real possibility that they didn't know what was going on until later when they found piles of data. Were it me, I would have made that disappear and no one would have heard of it again, but Google can't/won't do that and is facing up to their actions, purposeful or not.



So, with all that explained, I'm siding with Google here.

 

[hotspot]

Serves them right for invading privacy, what arseburgers! (word came to mind XD)



I hardly even use Google, I use Bing. I had no idea that Youtube was a part of Google!.

 

[IcarusForde]

I have an ethical issue with the trawling of unsecured networks, because it's a bit of a privacy issue. This was a step too far for google, IDC why/how it happened, but it was too far.



However, I'm happy to side with them on everything else they do, because I quite happen to like having a decent web service. And ftr, bing ftl.