Recording a few packets off an open wifi doesn't sound like much of an issue. But the fact that governments -- be it Hongkong or Germany or the others -- line u

Recording a few packets off an open wifi doesn't sound like much of an issue. But the fact that governments -- be it Hongkong or Germany or the others -- line up to grab a share of the data should tell you that someone, somewhere, has a real, tangible (and not necessarily non-evil) use for it. IMO, Google put itself in a bad position having this data, whether they intended it or not, because other people can get to this data, by subpoena, thinly veiled threats with law enforcement (in countries where the state doesn't get checked and balanced that much), or plain economic espionage (for all the mobsters out there). It's a little bit like creating an atomic bomb in your backyard: even when you're not planning to do any evil with it, it's still a bad idea to have one because the others will come and want.