Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
Summary: A mistake by an engineer caused Google to inadvertently collect Wi-Fi payload data via its Street View cars. An audit turned up the problem.
Google said Friday that an audit showed that it was collecting Wi-Fi data, including sites consumers visited, from its Street View cars that compile data for Google Maps and other services.
In a blog post, Google said that the data protection authority (DPA) in Hamburg, Germany asked for the audit. Since the request, Google looked at all the data it was collecting. Google initially said that it collected 
public SSID data and MAC addresses but didn't grab information sent over a network. However, Google realized it was collecting payload data even though it never used it in a product.
Usually, Google only got fragments of payload data---sites you visit and other items---because Street View cars were on the move.
Add it up and it's a big mistake:
In 2006 an engineer working on an experimental Wi-Fi project wrote a piece of code that sampled all categories of publicly broadcast Wi-Fi data. A year later, when our mobile team started a project to collect basic Wi-Fi network data like SSID information and MAC addresses using Google’s Street View cars, they included that code in their software—although the project leaders did not want, and had no intention of using, payload data.
As soon as we became aware of this problem, we grounded our Street View cars and segregated the data on our network, which we then disconnected to make it inaccessible. We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and are currently reaching out to regulators in the relevant countries about how to quickly dispose of it.
Oops.
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In other words, they got caught
Germany asked, so now they have to get rid of it all before anyone else asks.
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
Wifi
Now I am glad they missed my street.
"Do no evil"
Where's Garrett Rogers on this one?
Something tells me
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
Instead of covering up, obfuscating, denying, and all the tricks that other companies get up to when caught in the wrong, Google fest-up and attempts to rectify the wrong.
We all know other companies that would have acted much differently.
Really? Odd that it took the German inquireries to
BTW: How many other companies were logging this information?
Irrelevant
Unsecured and foolish or not this is unacceptable.
Google claims it was inadvertent. They had the hardware and the software running to do this and it was inadvertent?
Google has just shot themselves in the foot. Unfortunately Ballmer probably has a huge smile on his face and the MS friendly press will ride this story for as long as they can.
Google has left no doubt that they can't be trusted.
New, more aggressive privacy protections are sorely needed here in the US.
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
Also, what attempts did they make to rectify the issue? Did they reimburse the affected people? They didn't do anything beyond trying to protect themselves.
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
No, Google collected secure and insecure network data and they said they were not doing so. But the Germany authorities knew better and requested an audit. Google knew they were caught and quickly owned up to it being a mistake. So, no audit, no own up. No audit, no mistake. Yes, sounds like Google is just as bad as the rest, or even worst.
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
Yes, bring other companies into the mix, that will make it all better, even though Google didn't act all that much differently. Google didn't exactly fess up. First it was "we only collected SSIDs and MAC addresses", then it became "oops, it appears we actually did collect payload info, but it's OK, we deleted it (well, most of it, but we'll get around to the rest of it someday". And now it's "Look, it's all better. You can opt out, just muck up your cool SSID with our naming convention, then go to every device you own and edit your WiFi profile."
And it doesn't appear that they've taken any measures to actually notify any of the actual owners of these WiFi networks, so apparently these people also have to read the right tech blogs and news sites to even know their data was harvested, let alone that there's a way they can opt out.
You want to delete the data?
Why the heck don't you just delete it then. Why wait to "reach out to regulators"?
In spite of what they are telling us, it wasn't an accident. Did you think a street view car only has a camera? Why would it need a wifi receiver and a means of storing the intercepted wifi data if that wasn't their goal to begin with?
Im just saying.....
They don't know how to delete data??
For all it's technological might. It seems that Google does not know how to delete data.
C'mon, it's not toxic waste! Just delete the data and scrub the HDDs.
According to them the data is already quaranteened.
They probably can't
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
RE: Google's mistake leads to a lot of collected Wi-Fi payload data via Street View
They ADMITTED they did not know?????