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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."

6 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. .... COME ON! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google has been asked to do four things before the Canadian Government would consider the matter resolved

    You're going to end the summary there? What a damn cliffhanger!

    1. Re:.... COME ON! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Double posting to answer my own question. Those 4 things are:

      Put in place a governance model to ensure that privacy is protected when new products are launched;
      enhance privacy training to foster compliance amongst all employees;
      designate an individual responsible for privacy issues;
      and delete the Canadian data

  2. 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"?

  3. 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.

  4. Expectation of Privacy by bem · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you stand on a public street, it is legal to take pictures of anything you see: there is no expectation of privacy in public.

    If you stand naked in your front yard, you have no expectation of privacy.

    If you stand on your front porch and shout out your Visa number, you have no expectation of privacy.

    If you buy a toy AM transmitter from Radio Shack and broadcast your SSN, you have no expectation of privacy.

    But put it in cleartext on an 802.11g router... and you expect privacy?

  5. Re:Pay attention class... by dogsbreath · · Score: 4, Funny

    We've got a bunch of crazy laws.

    In the states, if you get caught downloading music, you get sued by Sony BMG...

    In Canada, we basically assume you payed your blank media tax.

    You insensitive clod: it's not a tax; it's a fee.

    Feel better?