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It's an invasion of the privacy of the owners of said access point because they neither asked not intended for their SSID and location to be put into Google's d
by rickmb 15y ago
It's an invasion of the privacy of the owners of said access point because they neither asked not intended for their SSID and location to be put into Google's database.
It's as simple as that. In most Western countries, a citizens right to determine what happens with information about them is considered a fundamental right. The fact that the information is publicly available and easy to collect does in no way diminish that right.
It's what is done with that information what matters. And no owner of a WiFi access point ever intended their SSID to end up in Google's databases, and especially not related to their geographical location.
It crosses an ethical and possibly legal line that may not be recognized in the US, but is pretty plain and solid in many other countries. And these aren't technologically clueless countries: net neutrality is the law in the Netherlands.
Google knows all of this, and yet chooses to publicly tell these countries to go fuck themselves. Smooth move.
- icebraining 15y agoThat's simply not true. 1) Just because you never ask or intend for that, doesn't mean that's your right: TV channels don't have to ask each person that passes on the street and happens to be filmed for authorization. There's a thing called expectation of privacy. 2) Google, at least in some countries, did in fact request permission from the appropriate bodies: here in Portugal we have a "National Commission for Data Protection" and they did authorize Google to collect that data and even to photograph the streets.