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My Location the Next Google Privacy Controversy?
theodp writes "While Google boasts one of its Privacy Principles is making the collection of personal information transparent, even techies are left guessing about what's going on behind the scenes of certain products. The American Dictator points out that Google's Wi-Fi collection efforts don't stop with its Street View cars, offering up this explanation of Google's My Location: 'When you allow Google to "know your location," what you are really agreeing to is to send to Google's computers your Wi-Fi environment — not only the name of the Wi-Fi hotspot you are logged into, but also the names and signal strengths of every Wi-Fi hotspot around you. In other words, the same things that those Google Street View cars were sucking up as they drove by your house.' So, will changes in privacy attitude prompt changes in Latitude?"
You mean that in order to use a service that uses your Wifi surroundings to determine your location, you have to send the service data about your Wifi surroundings? Holy shit!
Next, you'll tell me you have to send your private, personal *search terms* to Google to get search results - the horror!
Careful, that'll put you right onto a motorway, where you'll get hit by a car, and it'll be Google's fault