Google Says It Mistakenly Collected Data on Web Usage

Google Says It Mistakenly Collected Data on Web Usage

online.wsj.com

Google Inc. said an internal investigation has discovered that the roving vans the company uses to create its online mapping services were mistakenly collecting data about websites people were visiting over wireless networks.

(visit the link for the full news article)

More:

"It's now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (i.e. non-password-protected) Wi-Fi networks, even though we never used that data in any Google products," Alan Eustace, senior vice president for engineering and research, wrote in the blog post.

news.cnet.com...

[edit on 5/14/2010 by thomasblackraven]

[edit on 5/14/2010 by thomasblackraven]

Well, when people ask about why I do my best to not use Google products, I can point to such unethical, and potentially illegal behavior as this incident. Beyond the initial release, I for one, want to know more about the parties involved. Which snoop-vans were logging this info? What areas were included? Will Google individually contact those included in this privacy violation? Also, isn't unauthorized network access illegal under most, if not all, State laws? Will Google be punished or held criminally responsible for this? If I as an individual went on a War Driving campaign, I know I would end up being held under the Patriot Act!

online.wsj.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by thomasblackraven


Google is such a bad liar. Just like when the government or a retail chain says all the information on its credit card holders was jacked by an external group. Its all a well planned thievery by the powers that be.

Whatever...set up a gmail account. A very devious tactic employed are the suggested security questions...they ask for personal numerical strings which can easily be associated and correlated with the vast amounts of data already collected.

It's everywhere, guys. Be unpredictable, in a socially responsible way...

mistakenly

Do they think we are IDIOTS???

I think THEY are idiots cause seems to me a smart person would at least come up with a better excuse!!!!

For God's sake, what do they take us for??????????????

[edit on 14/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

For God's sake.

If you are putting your data out there unprotected you are lucky it was only GOOGLE that "mistakenly" got it.



I wonder if we are not missing a real conspiracy here. I have noticed an awful lot of negative Google articles lately, along with negative facebook trends.

Is it any coincidence that google has broken into very well I might add the smartphone OS market with Android, and maybe another big company is feeling the $$$ pinch?

I love Google. It was my number one requirement for my cell, that it be android based.

I guess I have no sympathy for losers who put data online unprotected and then think they are safe. Let's liken it to me leaving my diary propped up against my front stoop. Sure I would love to think people will pass it by and respect my privacy. But give me a break if I expect that seriously.

i think the publics love afair with Google is coming to an end and they are no longer sorting the results by relevance but by advertizment revenue.

it's a shame i real liked them but since they turned into big bro, big brother so i've turned my back on them.

Look they know i'm here because that google image in the textbox at the top of the page comes at a price and since google gets to see the referer string (Page URL) in the request for the image they also know i'm on this page.

Could delete my cookies but the image more than likly comes with an eTag so whats the point and any embeded youtube clips on the site will have put a flash cookie on my machine not that it makes much difrence because i'm using IE (after FF sold out to, yes you guest google) so userdata has been stored in my Index.dat files that MS have made so i can not delete them without tools because the files are locked.

Do you think Youtube that is owned by google shares data well to login to youtube you have to now use you google login so that puts that question to bed.

Google needs to be put back in it's box and we need to share google cookies so the data because corupted.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


If i gave you a lesson in whats going on you would not be saying that.

Google runs script in your browser that send back to google about 50 bits of information back that has nothing to do with user experience needed for a simple search page.

Hell google even has it's own encryption that is used in the HTTP header and not only wants your MAC address but also the MAC address of wi-fi connection around you !

WiFi. Lock it down or suffer the consequences.

DO NOT broadcast your location.
DO NOT let it go without strong encryption.
DO NOT share the password with anyone.

I drive down the street and see all of the areas pop up on my WiFi finder. Over half are wide open. I have friends that do not have to pay for internet because they hijack a nearby signal. Hackers use these same signals to very quickly and easily clone everything you send out, including passwords, websites, emails, streams, and more.

An unprotected WiFi signal can potentially give access to all of your email, banking and other sites within seconds. As well, your router can be hijacked and used as a gateway for illegal actions which lead back to you, not the criminal.

LOCK IT DOWN! Thats the rule.

Google does it, has been doing and will keep doing it. A lot of people do it.

I was talking to a few ATS members about it on a thread here and there is information there that some of you will find interesting and/or useful.

Any idiot can put his WiFi card into Monitor Mode and start capturing raw packets.

If Microsoft did this, there would have been a congressional hearing about it already. Google and Apple both somehow always escape heavy scrutiny from media and government alike...while Microsoft can't be spelled on the internet without the it being "Micro$oft." Were it not for Gmail being so dang handy I'd have a Microsoft live email account, because I trust Microsoft a crap load more than I trust Google...or Apple (see recent raid of iPhone finder's house.)

[edit on 14-5-2010 by yellowcard]

My school district converted everything to Gmail last year, how great. It is required you have this account, and they give google your information without your knowledge (until later if you figure it out and ask them). The damage has mostly been done. I try not to use google anymore, I used scroogle and startpage. Google is integrated with homeland security now and they use your searches to put you on watch lists now. Switch from google searches, don't get scroogled.

So essentially what these Google cars and vans have actually being doing is sniffing out every wifi network the can get near to (already knew this), and the cars systems as well as simply logging the location and the SSID and the other details like type of encryption - they have also being automatically logging on to each 'unsecured' network found and then running what is basically a simple 'man in the middle' attack where by they are able to intercept and view the traffic, presumably then they will store this....

And they did this by mistake? yes Google, pull the other one, it has bells on it, I imagine the systems on these cars was bespoke, built from the ground up for Googles very specific needs, ergo this was an intentional capability built in from the start... It's a little like Google turning up at hospital with a wine bottle stuck up his jaxie and trying to convince the giggling nurses that he was "painting the ceiling in the nude when he fell off the ladder and......"

Google, google, google.... what are we going to do with you?

shakes head......

Originally posted by thomasblackraven


Well, when people ask about why I do my best to not use Google products, I can point to such unethical, and potentially illegal behavior as this incident. Beyond the initial release, I for one, want to know more about the parties involved. Which snoop-vans were logging this info? What areas were included? Will Google individually contact those included in this privacy violation? Also, isn't unauthorized network access illegal under most, if not all, State laws? Will Google be punished or held criminally responsible for this? If I as an individual went on a War Driving campaign, I know I would end up being held under the Patriot Act!

online.wsj.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

More important thatn that, is.....What did the do with the data ?

Did they shred it / delete it or did they keep and use it/sell it ?

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
For God's sake.

If you are putting your data out there unprotected you are lucky it was only GOOGLE that "mistakenly" got it.

For God's sake. You are lucky when you don't stand close enough to the ATM for someone else to see your PIN. You deserve to be a victim of identity theft.

Is this really what you are implying?

Is open wep encryption ok for your own Wi fi local home network in an apartment block?
Why does my status screen sometimes spike on ATS and million of bytes are shown going out?
How many bytes does a ten line post eat up?
Why sometimes do I have to type really slow when posting?
If I type fast the words get jumbled?
Am i being monitored?

Originally posted by Dr Conspire
How many bytes does a ten line post eat up?
Why sometimes do I have to type really slow when posting?
If I type fast the words get jumbled?
Am i being monitored?

I've thought the same thing. One question though.

Are you using a laptop?

I found out that my laptop wouldn't keep up with my typing if it was not on the power cord. Some kind of power saving ability?

Anyway, most likely it's just your comp.

Edit: Although, if you don't have a password on your wifi, maybe many people are stealing it from you. Therefore slowing down your connection.

[edit on 14-5-2010 by Nutter]

Originally posted by LieBuster
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

If i gave you a lesson in whats going on you would not be saying that.

Google runs script in your browser that send back to google about 50 bits of information back that has nothing to do with user experience needed for a simple search page.

Hell google even has it's own encryption that is used in the HTTP header and not only wants your MAC address but also the MAC address of wi-fi connection around you !

Well why brag about schooling me then teasingly refuse to do so? I am open to being educated, please tell me what is really going with Google.

And what is it exactly I am saying that spurred your response?

Thanks.

Originally posted by Nutter

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
For God's sake.

If you are putting your data out there unprotected you are lucky it was only GOOGLE that "mistakenly" got it.

For God's sake. You are lucky when you don't stand close enough to the ATM for someone else to see your PIN. You deserve to be a victim of identity theft.

Is this really what you are implying?

There is no implications in my post. I merely stated my opinion. Be smart or suffer the consequences. If you are smart and someone actively intrudes, criminal and invasive. if you leave your business open like half my neighbors do, then I suppose you best trust your neighbors or shut up whining when someone leaches off you or you get intruded upon, because it is not intrusion when the door is wide open and a neon arrow points the way, is it?

And if I am at the ATM, and someone is close enough for me to wonder if they can steal my pin, I think it is my fault I did not leave and return when safety was confirmed. I use the atm all the time, and each time I confirm my surroundings and use safe procedures. Shame on me if I dont.