Google Street View Is an Invasion of My Privacy

[Guest August]

Business daily Financial Times Deutschland:

 

"Google Chief Eric Schmidt faces questions about why his staff developed a software that reads and stores data traffic from unsecured private networks. So far there hasn't been an answer that could reassure Google users."

 

"Google and Facebook are pursuing a dangerous business model that is based on two contradictory goals: on the one hand, they must win the trust of as many users as possible. On the other, they have to supply their advertising customers with as much user data as possible, which can shatter the confidence they have so painstakingly built up. It's a balancing act -- the decisive difference between the two companies lies in the consequences of a possible imbalance. While Google's size and market position allows it to shift the balance to the disadvantage of Web users at least temporarily, such a course can become life-threatening for Facebook."

[Guest BlackSun]

I think this was pretty straightforward

 

So how did this happen? Quite simply, it was a mistake. In 2006 an engineer working on an experimental WiFi project wrote a piece of code that sampled all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data.

[Guest Steven W.]

John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that is a frequent critic of Google, said the company had demonstrated a "lack of concern for privacy."

 

"Its computer engineers run amok, push the envelope and gather whatever data they can until their fingers are caught in the cookie jar," Simpson said.

 

"The takeaway from this incident is the clear need for government oversight and regulation of the data all online companies gather and store," he said.

 

Google said Street View cars have been collecting WiFi data in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States.

[Guest LAW]

Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement: "I am deeply disturbed by the latest developments in this case, which indicate that Google's Street View cars rolled right over consumers' personal privacy prerogatives while cruising city streets. This is unacceptable. Consumers should never have to fear that their Wi-Fi could morph into 'Spy-Fi'. As the Energy and Commerce Committee considers privacy legislation, I will continue to actively monitor the Google Street View issue, which can help to inform the legislative process moving forward.”

[Guest Chuck]

I am sure Google and Apple will know if I fall off a cliff before anyone else do.

 

Apple Inc.'s iPhones and Google Inc.'s Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal—intensifying concerns over privacy and the widening trade in personal data.

 

Google and Apple are gathering location information as part of their race to build massive databases capable of pinpointing people's locations via their cellphones. These databases could help them tap the $2.9 billion market for location-based services—expected to rise to $8.3 billion in 2014, according to research firm Gartner Inc

 

 

 

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703983704576277101723453610.html