[belfastdispatcher]

Google deliberately stole information but executives 'covered it up' for years | Mail Online

Just one of the reasons I am cutting Google out but will they ever pay for this? I like to think that the noose is tightening.

[morlock_man]

Hmmm... that sounds like fodder for the antitrust suit.

[Tre Lawrence]

Embarrassing and troubling snafu. They should be held responsible, IMHO.

[houshinto#IM]

Nope and doubt it since they are not the only ones who have probably engaged in behaviour/practices like or close to this.

The idealist, wants it to happen as justice/integrity should be held at the forefront.
The realist, knows that that's wishful thinking unless there's more to come.

Sorry....had a bad weekend... -_-'

[Tre Lawrence]

Nope and doubt it since they are not the only ones who have probably engaged in behaviour/practices like or close to this.

The idealist, wants it to happen as justice/integrity should be held at the forefront.
The realist, knows that that's wishful thinking unless there's more to come.

Sorry....had a bad weekend... -_-'

Exactly. Information is money, and EVERY corporation wants a piece of it.

Just hate to hear about underhanded stuff like this.

[belfastdispatcher]

But how come heads are rolling for the phone hacking scandal(no hacking involved, just voice mails without passwords) yet google gets away with it?

[Mystic205]

To me, the word is "collected" not "stolen".. having an unsecured home wifi network is simply the modern day equivalent of leaving your bank and credit card statements and personal letters on the sidewalk for anyone to see...

Regardless of legal, ethical or moral right or wrong here, for centuries it has been the individuals responsibilty ot protect their own privacy.. and anyone who thinks that this type of practice is limited to google must be living in cuckoo land..

[Laura Knotek]

I believe there is more of a possibility Google will get in trouble in Europe than in the US. The DOJ and FCC stated that no US laws were broken.

This article is rather old (published in 2004). However, it does not appear that wardriving in itself is illegal in the US.

[louzer]

I think that the bigger issue here is that technology is moving at a very fast pace and what used to be just a single computer hooked up to a modem to provide online access has fragmented into computers, laptops, tablets, phones, wifi routers/modems, and hotspots which all have to be managed.

Tech savy users can even be overwhelmed at the level of maintenance required to secure all of our paths to the internet. We're told that to remain truly safe, devices need to be kept at the most current version of OS/firmware.

Given the number of such devices in use today, I doubt that the average consumer even knows how to check to see that they're up to date. They probably don't even know that their network equipment can be configured. After all, most people simply open the box, connect, and use. It's only partially the consuer's fault. The technology is complex and in order to increase sales, manufacturers need their devices to be plug-n-play.

While it's disturbing that Google was collecting this information, it's not like they were using high-powered spying technology to get it. This was information collected from open wireless connections.

The message to me from this is:

1. People need to know that their information is at risk if their home networks are not secured.
2. No matter how secure you make your home network, when you go to your local wifi coffee spot with open wifi, you're still at risk.

Whether or not Google gets into trouble for this is secondary. The real point here is that articles reporting on things like this should act to raise public awareness about vulnerability.

[sleepngbear]

One of the myriad reasons I don't trust Google or Facebook as far as I can throw either of their respective CEO's. One of the myriad reasons I will never own anything powered by Android.

[kbz1960]

And what did they plan on doing with pictures and documents. This something some thief would do not some company that should be reputable. Inexcusable.

[ALToronto]

In Canada, Google Street View received some complaints when they photographed and filmed people who were with people who were not their spouses... But I don't think any money changed hands (except maybe between the people who were not each other's spouses ).

Actually, I rather like how they filmed my house. At the time, I didn't bother password protecting my home network, so I don't know if they got any information from me. But I wasn't targeted with ads following the filming.

[W Hoa]

The Google Streetview car drove passed my place three weeks ago.

The car was travelling at approximately 20/25 mph. It would seem that the opportunity to harvest information was extremely limited given the speed of the car and the restricted range of home wifi.

If my technological knowledge is way off on this I would appreciate being enlightened.

[gtpointer]

I'm not sure I quite understand people's arguments here.

In all these circumstances discussed above it is theft of data and it's illegal. Just because something is left unsecured doesn't mean it's OK to take it. If I leave my phone unattended on the beach while I'm in the sea, and someone steals it, I may have been foolish but it's still theft.

Thus, if google has done this it should be held to account.

[jrohland]

I posted in another thread about Google culture being that of voyeurism. Collecting personal information is de rigueur. Their technology is mostly all about collecting, linking and storing private data.

[_StephenBB81]

What things like this tell me, and the point brought up by louzer is that there is probably a market for technology property managers, just like people pay for physical property management, and wealth management, there very well could be a market to sell your services as a technology manager for consumers.

you set up Appliances, PC's, secure networks, connect devices, update firmwares.

a nice little data base of products users have to register it for them as many people never register their new products and don't get the advantages you keep up to date with product updates and book appointments to update them, heck you can even be a procurer of technology, I know I would have paid someone to go out and buy me the best $200-250 N wireless router with guest mode, and a USB pass key, then go install it, and be there when my alarm system company needed to replace the GSM link,

use the fear mongering and articles like this to market yourself.

[belfastdispatcher]

What things like this tell me, and the point brought up by louzer is that there is probably a market for technology property managers, just like people pay for physical property management, and wealth management, there very well could be a market to sell your services as a technology manager for consumers.

you set up Appliances, PC's, secure networks, connect devices, update firmwares.

a nice little data base of products users have to register it for them as many people never register their new products and don't get the advantages you keep up to date with product updates and book appointments to update them, heck you can even be a procurer of technology, I know I would have paid someone to go out and buy me the best $200-250 N wireless router with guest mode, and a USB pass key, then go install it, and be there when my alarm system company needed to replace the GSM link,

use the fear mongering and articles like this to market yourself.

I'm not sure what you two are on about lol, and the connection to Google stealing data, they are clearly stealing it but what's not sure is if they'll ever get in trouble for it.

What you have is two clear cases of blatant invasion of privacy:

1. The voice mail hacking by the media, again, the information was there for the taking, if you don't set a password on you voice mail anybody can listen to it. For this heads are rolling and people are going to jail

2. Google's invasion of privacy goes completely unpunished, I'm not even gonna consider the few thousands fine, it's not worthy of mentioning.

[RJB55]

Other than my general dislike for my droid phone another big reason I want to get a personal BB is because of google's propensity to procure one's personal data. Lord knows what they've collected from droid and google voice users. Heck I don't even use their search engine anymore.

[katiepea]

Anyone that doesn't think all companies do this should really read some books about the NSA. Not only are they required to forfeit your information, they have no legal obligation to protect you and are free from prosecution for sharing your info. Singling out Google is small minded

[kbz1960]

Yes, of course all companies drive by your house and if you haven't secured your wifi they use a special app to steal info, files, pictures off of your pc. Yes this happens every day. Not!

[katiepea]

That's not as bad as routing all your calls and the texts and email through NSA servers. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, sprint, they all do this. What's scarier? Someone collecting information you didn't secure, or information you believe IS secure being shared? The NSA is intercepting 1.7 billion American electronic communications, daily - AfterDawn

[kbz1960]

While they do that under the premise of security and I don't agree with it they are not goggle or hoover taking your personal files and pictures. What is their supposed reason for doing it? To help them better serve you how?

[katiepea]

i agree that googles actions are deplorable, even in my eyes, and i use google services myself, i also love their services. the thing is though, i don't have to ever give them real information, and i can opt out of their services. i can use fake names, fake addresses and secure my wifi. it'd be interesting to see google argue this in court. the case could be made someone leaving their information unsecure is akin to being public domain, and it's worth a thought. though a company as large as google ought to know better, and i would side against their actions. also, their services are free. they have at least admitted to this, and apologized, not that it's worth much..my point? you can guard yourself against this type of thing. you can't guard yourself against the companies you actually pay money to believing they are keeping your actual private information safe, all the while sharing 100% of it. security doesn't really exist.

[kbz1960]

i agree that googles actions are deplorable, even in my eyes, and i use google services myself, i also love their services. the thing is though, i don't have to ever give them real information, and i can opt out of their services. i can use fake names, fake addresses and secure my wifi. it'd be interesting to see google argue this in court. the case could be made someone leaving their information unsecure is akin to being public domain, and it's worth a thought. though a company as large as google ought to know better, and i would side against their actions. also, their services are free. they have at least admitted to this, and apologized, not that it's worth much..my point? you can guard yourself against this type of thing. you can't guard yourself against the companies you actually pay money to believing they are keeping your actual private information safe, all the while sharing 100% of it. security doesn't really exist.

That I can agree with.

[belfastdispatcher]

Is NSA a private corporation like Google? And having to use fake names does nothing to straighten the argument.