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

[Khalid Baheyeldin]

I guess the same controversy erupted when certain companies started printing
thick yellow books containing the names, addresses and phone numbers of
entire cities! Unthinkable! Aggregating all that private data in one place
for thieves and identify theft to peruse?

And just in time for this discussion:

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/21/2058222/States-Launch-Joint-Probe-of-Google-Wi-Fi-Snooping

To quote one commentor:

Its akin to driving down the street with a tape recorder and parabolic mic,
recording whatever conversations people might be having as part of a
population density study, and accidentally recording someone in their front
yard yelling their cc# into the phone. It should fall under general privacy
law: if you dont spend the time/energy to setup encryption of some form,
dont expect privacy (same as if you dont try to block peeping toms, or if
you go sunbathing nude in your front yard next to the street, dont be
surprised to find yourself posted to /b/). Even windows warns you now if you
try to connect to an unencrypted AP. If anyone should be sued for this, sue
the manufacturers that distributed the APs with a default configuration of
no encryption and see how well that flies.
-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
http://2bits.com
Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
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