WiFi Data: Can Google Afford Mistakes Like These?
We all know that Google accidentally logged information about unsecured WiFi data across many countries such as Germany and the UK. They have confirmed that the Street Car performed that operation and that it was a function that they had not actually authorized.
In any case, the data has since been destroyed and Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) is busy reassuring the world that Google “cares” about privacy –a statement that is reportedly, something that Mark Zuckerberg would never say. In order to ensure that the data was disposed of, Google hired a third party in order make sure that the process was properly executed and accomplished.
Still, one cannot that deny that as the company that it is today, Google is by far bigger than anything else we could have ever expected. Their Google Maps, Street View and other map services can be considered to be the largest and most comprehensive source of current geographical data the spans the entire planet. They also hold a large array of services ranging from Picasa to YouTube to Google Mail.
So when it has been learned that Google has been snooping around collecting WiFi network data, one must wonder why they even had they idea in the first place. It is certainly interested to be able to map out locations that offer free WiFi, but actually figuring out which houses in the UK have unprotected networks is like giving free candy to hackers.
No matter how many warnings and precautions are given, there will always be this one or two people in the block who have no idea how to add security to their router. Google may intend to, but this kind of carelessness is potentially harmful to people like those. More importantly, there is much more to Google than just the search engine and Street view. If they are so nonchalant about the accidentally logged WiFi data, who knows what else they might have been able store in their other services?
Google: Protecting Privacy
There was a lot of fuss in regards to the revelation that the Google Street car managed to capture more data than was originally thought. The car was supposed to travel roads in order to take pictures that would appear in the Street View web service. However, it has been revealed in Germany that the vehicle also managed to log all public WiFi networks that could be accessed by anyone passing by.
Originally, it was planned that Google would actually take a full roster of free WiFi networks, but the feature was supposedly removed. The folks at Silicon Valley attest that the function was written in by an engineer and that the information was taken accidentally. In order to preserve public trust in the company, Google has announced that it would be deleting the unnecessary data, and in order to properly delete the files, Google has hired the services of a third party company to delete the files.
iSEC member, Alex Stamos has sent the following letter to Alan Eustace, Senior VP of engineering and research of Google with regards the data.
“I have been working with members of Google's technical staff to organize and securely store the date in question. Before my arrival, Google staff had consolidated the wi-fi packet captures and onto four hard drives. This data was organized into folders corresponding to the nation of origin. Upon my acquisition of the drives from Google staff, I noted that the hard drives had been stored in a secure manner within a secure portion of the facility.”
“I created two new encrypted volumes on separate hard drives, and copied over all of the data with the exception of data that was identified as being captured within the Republic of Ireland. I then witnessed the physical destruction of the original four hard drives.”
“I can attest that all of the data on these drives identified and as captured within the Republic of Ireland was destroyed in accordance with best practices for irreversible data destruction.”