[LINK] Federal police asked to probe Google

[Kim Holburn]

On 2010/Jun/06, at 5:11 PM, <community at thoughtmaybe.com> wrote:
> Federal police asked to probe Google
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/06/2919491.htm
>
> The Federal Government has asked the Australian Federal Police to  
> investigate internet giant Google over alleged privacy breaches.
>
> Last month, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy labelled Google  
> "creepy" and accused the company of committing the "single greatest  
> breach in the history of privacy" when it collected information from  
> wireless (wi-fi) networks.
>
> Google says it mistakenly collected the data and has apologised.

....

> Information about wi-fi networks is used by many companies,  
> including mobile telephone giant Nokia, to improve the performance  
> of GPS on mobile devices and provide a more accurate location,  
> particularly in cities where satellite signals can be blocked by  
> tall buildings.

So ... many companies have wifi location data?  Curiouser and curiouser.

Why haven't we heard more about this?  How did they collect this  
data?  Where?  Did they collect any packets?  Who are these *many*  
companies?

Kim

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request