Google's Wi-Fi Spying: What Were They Thinking?

If you want privacy, why would you be running an unencrypted, open router?
if you are doing that, and concerned about privacy, your insane, not google.

 

There is an older organization than Google that has been collecting, storing and matching locations of MAC addresses and SSIDs. It's called Skyhook.

I also think that it is a big step to say that they have gone from "Don't be evil" to "1984". When a company as large as Google takes on as many, and as ambitious, projects as Google does, there are bound to be some security and privacy issues. The difference here is that Google quickly corrects these mistakes and ones like the whole Buzz Snafu, then apologizes.

Conversely, sites like Facebook take away privacy that they have previously afforded you, make not apologies, and then "allow" you to change your privacy settings. The problem is that in order to get to these settings you must do a search comparable to where they kept the records for Arthur Dent's bypass.

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/254ff5b6-61e2-11df-998c-00144feab49a.html