Google Street View is a very useful service. Every time I go on a trip, I will use Google Maps and Google Street View before I go. The ability to see the street and surrounding areas makes me feel more comfortable traveling to new places. I know some people are concerned about the privacy that their streets or houses are so easy to see. While I don’t share those concerns, I applaud Google’s policy of blurring images of anyone who owns the property and requests it.
Google Earth used satellite images it received from other sources. Google Street View is the work of Google. They send out a fleet of cars and bicycles with cameras and special equipment to take all those pictures. Earlier this year, Google was caught capturing Wifi signals while it was mapping locations. This exposition brought certain policies to light.
Google was actively scanning and registering every wireless access point it found. Google was also recording the MAC of each access point. With this information, Google is trying to obtain additional information. If you were to go to a Google service from one of these access points, Google would know almost exactly where you were.
In the process of collecting this information, Google had to admit that it “inadvertently” captured usernames, passwords, and emails. Most of this information was fragmented and obviously not exploitable. I’m sure with a little work they could match users with passwords and emails. Google has since rewritten its software to not capture the “data”, but will continue to record the access point.
If Google was able to obtain the MAC address of your home wireless router, they will recognize it every time you go to one of their services. I do not like this.
Google claims that they did not know that they were capturing usernames, passwords, and “data.” I wonder if the FTC would be willing to accept that excuse of mine if it started scanning my neighbors. I really don’t like this.
Finally, let this serve as a lesson. When you are sitting in one place using your free WiFi, you are not browsing privately. Not only can everyone in the store see what you’re doing, but people outside the store can see it too. For those of you who still think you aren’t seeing them, look up Kismet or Wireshark on the internet. Better yet, do a search on YouTube and see these tools in action.
Unless we take steps to protect our privacy, we can never browse privately.