Sergey Brin: "We screwed up" on WiFi data collection
Summary: During a Q&A at Google I/O, company co-founder Sergey Brin responded to an off-topic question about the controversial WiFi data collection associated with shooting Street View images. Brin's short answer: "We screwed up."
During a Q&A session with the press at Google I/O today, Google co-founder Sergey Brin allowed one participant to go off-topic and ask his question about the WiFi data collection error that was part of its Street View image capturing process. Specifically, the question was focused on internal controls to prevent this from happening again.
Brin's response:
In short, let me just say that we screwed up. I'm not going to make any excuses about it. The answer is yes. We do have a lot of internal controls in place but obviously they didn't prevent this error from occurring. We are putting more internal controls in place and bringing in third parties to work on this issue, as well. Trust is very important to us. We are doing everything we can to preserve that trust.
Earlier today, two lawmakers asked the Federal Trade Commission if Google broke the law when it made the "mistake" of collecting WiFi and other data while shooting photos for the Street View feature within Google Maps, according to a Reuters report. The lawmakers also asked if the data collection violated a "reasonable expectation of privacy and if its actions were deceptive or illegal.
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Talkback
Yes they did
RE: Sergey Brin:
True, But, Google's prime source of income
Is ad dependent, the more info they have that can help them serve you targeted ads, the worse off we all are. Google has been less than stellar when it comes to user privacy, and Eric Schmidt himself has said as much. I'm short of blocking Google's services at the router.
RE: Sergey Brin:
You might want to explain that remark. I use Chrome I haven't noticed being 'worse off'.
In the fishing industry this is called "bycatch"
RE: Sergey Brin:
RE: Sergey Brin:
Big Brother, or Useful Service?
A good compromise might be:
A) For Google to announce that they are developing this feature! I realize they want to beat other search engines to the punch, but they put at risk that little trust thingy they keep harping about whenever people realize how much of their digital footprint they are leaving around.
B) Additionally, Google could post a unique string of characters that should be contained within the WiFi network name that is broadcast, if a business *wishes to participate* and have their hotspot visible on a Google Map.
The string should be unique enough to filter out the thousands of unprotected "linksys" name zones, and not accidentally pick up some random HEX concatenation from more savvy users.
C) While we're on the subject of trust, Google should take a moment and explain how people should read the manual on their WiFi router on how to make their networks PRIVATE. The same people who are upset about 'Big Brother' peeping into their lives, will likely be motivated enough to get the job done if they haven't already.
Please, let's not advocate the extermination of what might be a useful feature for folks who travel around with their laptops and other devices that use WiFi.
RE: Sergey Brin:
RE: Sergey Brin:
Well, kinda, sorta. They are still calling it a mistake. That may turn out to be a mistake!
Why don't you delete this data then, Sergey?
They have declared that none of the data collected will be deleted unless the local laws require them too. Who are you kidding Sergey. If this WAS really a screw up, just DELETE the data.
RE: Sergey Brin:
Screwing up means what?
How does this company really make its money? Something isn't adding up.
RE: Sergey Brin:
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RE: Sergey Brin: