[kwlug-disc] [OT] Google sniffing wifi, collecting emails and passwords.

[Chris Frey]

On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 07:04:58PM -0400, unsolicited wrote:
> Chris Frey wrote, On 06/21/2010 6:38 PM:
> >On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 04:28:24PM -0400, Paul Nijjar wrote:
> >>Similarly, is it bad/unethical for Google to record your unencrypted
> >>traffic even when there is no digital lock protecting it? Is it the
> >>encryption that is supposed to secure your data, or is it the
> >>underlying principle?
> >
> >Wifi is like walking around with my MAC address on my t-shirt.
> >I can't be too upset if people read it.
> >
> >If I sold that t-shirt and tried to keep people from reading it
> >with some kind of lock, it would be even worse.
> >
> >In both the wifi case and the digital lock case, people are sending
> >data out into the wild and still expecting to control it somehow.
> 
> Interesting analogy, but I don't think quite correct.
> 
> If you were selling the shirt, it seems reasonable that nobody else 
> should be able to copy the design and sell their own copies. Even if 
> they give them away for free.


I was talking about the MAC address, not the shirt. :-)

i.e. To clarify my "even worse" line:  If a person sells a container
(book, DVD, tshirt) that has content (story, movie, MAC address), it is
wrong of me to put a lock of some kind (padlock, CSS, wearable license)
to try to control who sees the content (reading, watching, ogling across
the street) after the container is out of my control.

If I drive down the street with my radio blasting my latest garage band
creation, I shouldn't be upset if someone rides beside me recording it.
I'm invading their space with my volume, they can invade mine by recording it.

I guess my ultimate point (which I'm not conveying well)
is that if people want privacy, they have to put some effort into it,
and I don't think people using wifi are putting in much effort.

Wifi, open radio, twitter, blogs, facebook, even debit cards to a lesser
extent, are all ways to destroy your own privacy, and I think people need
to at least acknowledge that, and not be suddenly upset when their
convenience has a bit of a cost.

- Chris