[LINK] wifi packet sniffing laws murky

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/packet-sniffing-laws-murky/

> Packet-Sniffing Laws Murky as Open Wi-Fi Proliferates

> • By David Kravets
> • June 22, 2010

> Starbucks is rolling out free, unsecured Wi-Fi access at about 7,000  
> coffee shops across the United States beginning July 1. But will  
> there be packet-sniffing with your latte?
>

> The Seattle-based coffee concern's move to lure customers with free  
> internet comes amid a growing legal uncertainty about privacy on  
> open Wi-Fi networks, kicked off by Google's admission its Street  
> View cars intercepted data on unsecured Wi-Fi networks in  
> neighborhoods across the globe.
>
> Google, in response to government inquiries and lawsuits, claims it  
> is lawful to use packet-sniffing tools readily available on the  
> internet to spy on and download payload data from others using the  
> same open Wi-Fi access point.
>
> "We believe it does not violate U.S. law to collect payload data  
> from networks that are configured to be openly accessible (.pdf)   
> (i.e., not secured by encryption and thus accessible by any user's  
> device). We emphasize that being lawful and being the right thing to  
> do are two different things, and that collecting payload data was a  
> mistake for which we are profoundly sorry," Google wrote Congress.
>

.....

> The closest court ruling was in January, when an Oregon federal  
> judge ruled evidence of child pornography found on a local man's  
> computer through his open Wi-Fi network could be used against him in  
> court, absent a warrant. In arguing to uphold the warrantless  
> computer search, the government said privacy interests were  
> nullified with unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
>
> "Defendant's unsecured wireless access point was open to anyone with  
> a wireless modem, whether or not they were law enforcement,"  the  
> government argued. "Because defendant made no effort to keep or  
> maintain his computer network private but maintained an access point  
> open to all, no search occurred."
>

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
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