The internet’s not-so-secret problem with privacy

20/05/10 posted by Liz Niland

It was bound to happen. It was bound to happen in 2010. More people than ever are on Facebook. More people than ever use wireless networks to connect to the internet. The use of location-based technology is on the rise. Privacy concerns are, not surprisingly, now front of almost everyone’s thoughts.

Flying slightly beneath the overwhelmingly Facebook-flooded radar, Google has also joined the recently mounting pile of those with less-than-acceptable privacy practice. While we blogged about the bust that was Buzz earlier in the year, new issues have since been raised with the search giant over its collection of more than just street snaps for the Google Maps product since 2006.

Blaming a piece of accidentally recycled coding, Google have made a statement on the Official Google Blog to say that the questionable data collected has now been destroyed. While it was originally thought this data contained only the names and locations of WiFi networks in a particular area, (which owners of wireless-enabled devices will know is publicly available information) it was revealed that the project was also collecting data (such as emails) from unsecured WiFi networks.

Since the story broke, Google have been quick to reassure punters that the collection of actual readable private data was minimal: “We will typically have collected only fragments of payload data because: our cars are on the move; someone would need to be using the network as a car passed by; and our in-car WiFi equipment automatically changes channels roughly five times a second.”

This may be true but, the problem that many have had, including internet security expert Alastair MacGibbon, is that the data was collected at all. This was not an incident occurring with some kind of “opt-in” service or Google product - this data was taken from everyday individuals and as MacGibbon points out, “there are laws against this type of activity”, as explained in the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act. 

In a very good move by Google, it was announced on the blog that “given the concerns raised, we have decided that it’s best to stop our Street View cars collecting WiFi network data entirely.” Unlike the other privacy-poor media target Facebook, Google have at least owned up to the issues and taken responsibility, writing that “we are acutely aware that we failed badly here.”

While those at Google say they’ve learned a valuable lesson, everyday onliners need to learn the value of a strong password - a secure, password-protected network, computer, and email client are vital to maintaining your security online. Even if your biggest security threat is one of the world’s biggest companies.