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Google's Street View cars collect locations of Wi-Fi devices

Discussion in 'TechSpot News and Comments' started by Matthew, Jul 25, 2011.

  1. Matthew TechSpot Editor, Community Manager

    Google is back in the hot seat today following a CNET report that suggests the search giant's Street View cars collected the locations of countless Wi-Fi devices. Along with mapping…

    Read the whole story
    Matthew, Jul 25, 2011
    #1

  2. mario TechSpot Developer

    Everyone remember Google doesn't make money by selling you stuff they make money by selling you.
    mario, Jul 25, 2011
    #2

  3. Benny26 TechSpot Paladin

    "What's worse, the search giant reportedly releases that information online, and you can't opt out of it."

    Oh dear...Google should have its tin hat at the ready on this one.
    Benny26, Jul 25, 2011
    #3

  4. aj_the_kidd Newcomer, in training

    Remember the days when we all "knew" companies were shady but didn't have any proof and were mainly just ignorant to it, I kinda miss those days. That being said this act didn't seem inherently shady, just stupid and I'm guessing a bit of a surprise. Seems like their WiFi detection software worked a little too well
    aj_the_kidd, Jul 25, 2011
    #4

  5. gwailo247 TechSpot Chancellor

    Was Google this evil before Android or just after?
    gwailo247, Jul 25, 2011
    #5

  6. Archean TechSpot Paladin

    It is 'designed' to work this way, so I am sure the intention was there, it smells just like the NOW case, only thing is no one will be doing any investigation to get to the bottom of it.
    Archean, Jul 26, 2011
    #6

  7. aj_the_kidd Newcomer, in training

    I dont know, ive written programs which were designed and intended in one way, with a great deal of testing and then in the real world have it execute differently with real data. Whatever the case is with google be it bad design or designing with bad intentions, nothing is going to come out of this, nothing major anyway.
    aj_the_kidd, Jul 26, 2011
    #7

  8. Guest

    Are we sure that Google's Street View cars are not run by Lulzsec?
    Guest, Jul 26, 2011
    #8

  9. Guest

    Really? This is news? I figured that was public knowledge long ago! I mean, your android phone PROMPTS YOU TO TURN ON WIFI to enhance its locating ability when you go into google maps. Also, it's just like the wardrivers of the past, driving around town with a laptop and GPS, picking up signals and cataloging their locations. I really had to check the date on this story to make sure I wasn't reading old news.
    Guest, Jul 26, 2011
    #9

  10. Guest

    This is not news. Google and Skyhook Wireless do this. This is Wifi location services using GPS coordinates paired with unique MAC address snooping. This is not new. We've had this service for years. Google needs to periodically update their Wifi/GPS database. The best way to do that is with their Street cars that travel through streets. Most likely you use this service right now with the iPhone/iPad Google maps app.
    Guest, Jul 26, 2011
    #10
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