37 States Join Investigation of Google Street View

bonch writes "Attorneys General from 37 states have joined the probe into Google's Street View data collection. The investigation seeks more information behind Google's software testing and data archiving practices after it was discovered that their Street View vans scanned private WLANs and recorded users' MAC addresses. Attorney general Richard Blumenthal said, 'Google's responses continue to generate more questions than they answer. Now the question is how it may have used — and secured — all this private information.'"

Comments

Private Info?

[breser]

Seriously, who thinks this info is private? We're talking about payload data from unsecured wifi. For that matter we're talking about payload fragments.

Obviously, Google shouldn't have collected this. Obviously, Google shouldn't disclose this information to anyone, including governments.

The data should be destroyed and everyone should move on.

Google didn't collect anything that someone with a wifi card and some easily obtained software couldn't obtain.

Simply put, if you're concerned about privacy secure your wifi because without some encryption you really don't have any privacy.

Re:Private Info?

[silentcoder]

>For me privacy is not about the place, privacy is about the person.

Perhaps - but what google did isn't like hiding in a bush behind you recording your conversation with your girlfriend. It's more like you are standing on top of a chair shouting "I love you Jane Fonda will you marry me" and they record it.

Seriously - when you BROADCAST information, without making any attempt to limit who can receive it despite your broadcasting device being equipped with the means to do so you can't expect it to be private afterward.

Or to use an analogy I used in a previous story on this topic: If you shag your girl against the window without closing the blinds you can't blame the neighbours for staring - not even the pervy fat-guy across the road who videotapes it (and then posts on slashdot about privacy concerns).

I can even give you a car analogy. If I take pictures of the highway as you drive by - and thus get a picture of your car showing make, model and registration - how did I invade your privacy ? If I do it in your own front yard I still didn't invade your privacy - especially since, if you really cared, you could easily have draped a car-condom over it.

Information you broadcast without limiting who can receive/understand it - is not private information - your own actions have MADE it public information.

Re:Private Info?

[Zironic]

What certain geeks like you seem to fail to understand is that normal people don't give a flying fuck about how it works on a technical level.

What a normal reasonable person expects from an open wi-fi is that their neighbors might borrow their internet. What they don't expect is that a random asswank will record all their data. While it's very easy to do it does require you to go out of your way to do it which means you're a dick.

In the same way when you sunbathe in your backyard or fuck your girlfriend in the window you probably don't mind if your neighbors see you, but you have every right to be pissed if someone decides to take photographs.

I for one don't want to live in a world where any information that leaves the 4 walls of my house is public.

Re:Private Info?

[AMindLost]

So you think your DNA isn't private? You leave it everywhere you go so it's in the public domain. Is it OK for a company to collect it, store it and profile it for its own purposes?