Google Describes Wi-Fi Sniffing In Pending Patent

theodp writes "After mistakenly saying that it did not collect Wi-Fi payload data, Google had to reverse itself, saying, 'it's now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (i.e. non-password-protected) Wi-Fi networks.' OK, mistakes happen. But, as Seinfeld might ask, then what's the deal with the pending Google patent that describes capturing wireless data packets by operating a device — which 'may be placed in a vehicle' — in a 'sniffer' or 'monitor' mode and analyzing them on a server? Guess belated kudos are owed to the savvy Slashdot commenter who speculated back in January that the patent-pending technology might be useful inside a Google Street View vehicle. Google faces inquiries into its Wi-Fi packet sniffing practices by German and US authorities."

Comments

Wardriving?

[Anonymous Coward]

A patent?

Isn't that exactly the same thing which wardrivers have been doing since WiFi existed?

Re:Wifi Sniffing is an old term

[Anonymous Coward]

Wifi Sniffing and wardriving are two overlapping but different concepts. Sniffing is passively capturing wireless LAN traffic, i.e. a very broad term. Wardriving is when a mobile receiver passively captures a specific subset of WLAN traffic, namely the beacon frames, for the purpose of finding and listing but not accessing wireless LANs. What Google supposedly wanted to do was wardriving. What Google actually did was Wifi sniffing.