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Canada Says Google Wi-Fi Sniffing Collected Personal Data

Posted by samzenpus on from the coming-late-to-the-party dept.

adeelarshad82 writes "Canada's privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, has announced that Google's recent Wi-Fi sniffing was a serious violation of Canadians' privacy rights and included the collection of personally identifiable information. Stoddart's team, who traveled to Google's Mountain View headquarters to examine the data, found complete e-mails, e-mail addresses, usernames and passwords, names and residential telephone numbers and addresses. Google has been asked to do four things before the Canadian Government would consider the matter resolved."

4 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Article comment puts it best by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    registraruser

    October 19, 2010 8:07pm

    Whoa! A company stored lists of patients with a medical condition and contact information on a computer connected to an *UNSECURED and UNENCRYPTED* wireless network, and we are supposed to believe that Google is the "bad guy"?

    1. Re:Article comment puts it best by FrankDrebin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sophomoric and stupid comment.

      Stoddart is fulfilling her role in ensuring companies do not collect personal information from individuals (except under very specific circumstances). Doesn't matter if it's done through side-scan radar, digging through your trash, or WiFi sniffing... it's not legal in Canada.

      --
      Anybody want a peanut?
  2. The Internet is not Secure. by blair1q · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Internet is not Secure.

    Even less so when you broadcast your Internet packets to every antenna within several hundred yards.

  3. Re:Pay attention class... by mysidia · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think Google has offered to delete the data, but some goverments ordered them not to. If i were google, i wouldnt go the "extra mile" as it may cause them a law suite. I would contact the other goverments where data has been collected

    The answer should have been... "We already deleted it, sorry."

    Why the heck would they announced that they inadvertently collected data, without guaranteeing its destruction first, so the data would be gone before anyone could dare ask for some order to request preservation?