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Google Releases FCC Report On Street View Probe
An anonymous reader writes with news that Google has released the full report of the FCC investigation into the incident in which its Street View cars collected personal data while mapping Wi-Fi networks. They are putting responsibility for the data gathering on a 'rogue engineer' who wrote the code for it without direction from management.
"Those working on Street View told the FCC they had no knowledge that the payload data was being collected. Managers of the Street View program said they did not read the October 2006 document [written by the engineer that detailed his work]. A different engineer remembered receiving the document but did not recall any reference to the collection of payload data. An engineer who worked closely with the engineer in question on the project in 2007, reviewing all of the codes line by line for bugs, says he did not notice that the software was designed to capture payload data. A senior manager said he preapproved the document before it was written."
was anyone assigned to validate requirements against functionality? compliance? export control? 3rd party software integration copyright and license? was any due diligence done other than to review for technical bugs?
Obama ate a dog.
That's what happens when times are tough. You order take out. You think the meat is chicken, it's not.
Be seeing you...
No, one engineer is being thrown under the bus. I wonder if his name was Goldstein...
As much as I like google, I would be the first one to complain if I thought they were doing something wrong. But let's think about this:
1. If they were capturing unencrypted packets from non-secured WiFi networks.... that would be creepy, but probably not illegal. Anyone who sets up an unencrypted network should expect that other people might use it to just listen in. Google would just be picking up information they were already broadcasting in the clear.
2. If they were capturing encrypted packets then... they have useless data.
And the car was moving, which means that in case 1, they may have a dozen packets each from millions of different routers. They weren't parking somewhere to capture all of someone'S data, but got lots of random garbage instead. I am sure all they were interested in was the BSSID in order to tag it to a location.
Now, if they were trying to crack encrypted WLAN packets, then legal or not, there is something very suspicious going on - especially if they kept it secret.
Actually, this sounds like most managers I know.
Managers of the Street View program said they did not read the October 2006 document [written by the engineer that detailed his work].
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
They are putting responsibility for the data gathering on a 'rogue engineer' who wrote the code for it without direction from management.
An engineer who worked closely with the engineer in question on the project in 2007, reviewing all of the codes line by line for bugs, says he did not notice that the software was designed to capture payload data. A senior manager said he preapproved the document before it was written."
Isn't interesting in Corporate America, when things go great, it's management's brilliance? And when things go bad, it's a rogue employee?
I'd really like to know management's justification for their obscenely high compensation, for one thing.
Here's another thing while I'm ranting:That's one of the big differences between managing and leading.
Leader: it's MY fault and I'll take care of it.
Manager: it's someone elses fault. You go take care of it.
If I had a nickel for every time I've inserted code (especially the "I've got the data in my hand, why don't I save it somewhere" kind) "without direction from management" that I ABSOLUTELY KNEW was useful and/or going to be asked for as soon as they thought of it anyways; well, let's just say I could have retired early. Call me a "rogue".
Wait but you can't say that, because Google is "not evil"(tm).
They have painted themselves into a corner quite well, this time.
But people forget soon. Heck, they are still buying Windows, praising Jobs, and considering Richard Matthew "Told you so!" Stallman a commie idealist.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
The developer documented his work and sent the documentation out to others on the team (including the managers). It's the managers' jobs to make sure the developers understand the requirements correctly. In fact, the developer was working on the project in order to capture the data and study it to see if it would of use to Google.
What are the managers doing if they aren't managing the engineers? We might have to stay late writing code, but are they staying late reading documents and getting up to speed on what everyone is doing? Isn't that their job? I'm still in school so please correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't understand why this was legal. Had the non-encrypted wireless transmissions they captured been voice wouldn't that have been covered under current wiretapping laws? If so, why is this different? Not trying to troll, just wondering why non-encrypted wireless data communications transmitted over the air are assumed free game.
Also, what if they were capturing encrypted communications over an open wifi signal (ie, someone browsing an HTTPS site.) Wouldn't they have still captured that data? Does it make a difference now that they are capturing encrypted packets?
It is common to omit the article when speaking of a a place of origin in German, thus the accusation that Kennedy called himself a jelly doughnut because he did not omit the article.
However, it is true that the Germans listening understood very well what he meant and appreciated what he said.