37 States Join Investigation of Google Street View 269
bonch writes "Attorneys General from 37 states have joined the probe into Google's Street View data collection. The investigation seeks more information behind Google's software testing and data archiving practices after it was discovered that their Street View vans scanned private WLANs and recorded users' MAC addresses. Attorney general Richard Blumenthal said, 'Google's responses continue to generate more questions than they answer. Now the question is how it may have used — and secured — all this private information.'"
Re:Private Info? (Score:3, Informative)
Even when connected to secured wifi networks your MAC can be sniffed. MACs are not secure. Try using airodump sometime. ;-)
Re:Private Info? (Score:1, Informative)
...geeks like you...
...asswank...
...you're a dick....
I for one don't want to live in a world where any information that leaves the 4 walls of my house is public.
What certain people do understand is the difference between a real argument and an ad-hominem one. While you are busy demonstrating your ignorance, the parent explained how it works and why it simply isn't private. What you "expect", out of your ignorance of the issues, really doesn't matter.
As far as your last comment, you can figure out what to do about that one yourself.
Re:Private Info? (Score:5, Informative)
I disagree that wifi data meets the definition of a broadcast; rather, it is a non-public communication transmitted without encryption. The only definitions of 'broadcast' I could find at the FCC website were related to specific broadcast services (AM, FM, TV, etc)
47CFR73 Sec. 73.14 AM broadcast definitions.
A broadcast station licensed for the dissemination of radio communications intended to be received by the public and operated on a channel in the AM broadcast band.
Also there are rules in the Amateur service (Part 97) that forbid broadcast transmissions intended for the public.
The crux of the biscuit is that broadcasts are, by definition, intended for public receipt. Wifi data is not intended for public receipt and the service under which Wifi equipment operates is not licensed as a broadcast service (it is unlicensed, in fact).
Remember back in the day when HBO, etc were transmitted in-the-clear over C band satellites? I could tune in and watch it with no trouble, but the law said even though it was transmitted in-the-clear you could not legally watch it unless you were a subscriber.
Did you know that the old-school pagers used in-the-clear transmissions? I could've easily transcribed every single pager transmission in the greater Richmond area (as well as ones intended for those with 'satellite' pagers that worked nationwide). It would not have been legal, however.
How about the old 49 MHz cordless phones/baby monitors, analog cell phones, etc? They were all in the clear, and special federal legislation was enacted to prevent eavesdropping - they forced scanner manufacturers to block the analog cell frequencies [gpo.gov].
What google did by collecting anything other that the SSID was equivalent to transcribing private pager data and making it publicly available - that certainly would be illegal.
References:
Communications Act of 1934, as Amended [google.com] (pdf)
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs2-wire.htm [privacyrights.org]