[governance] Google Wi-Fi gaffe breached Privacy Act

[Imran Ahmed Shah]

[IAS]
Not all the network equipments like WiFi access points/ router are configured with Password protection or encrypted mode communication.
So, sniffing is easy if you have access remotely when knowing minimum information. 
------------------------------
 On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 2:12 AM PKT Chaitanya Dhareshwar wrote:
 
 >Never mind how it was illegal - basically that would basically tell them:
 >
 >1. Network existance, security level, possibly the encryption type used,
 >frequency used and SSID
 >2. If unencrypted, the IP range in use, possibly the gateway IP (via a 3-4
 >point tracert)
 >3. Also perhaps if they were sniffing maybe a bit of info about who's using
 >it (unlikely given the way wifi works)
 >
 >Which gives us.... what?
 >
 >-C
 >
 >On Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 10:01 PM, Roland Perry <
 >roland at internetpolicyagency.com> wrote:
 >
 >> In message <1345283393.42074.**YahooMailNeo at web125102.mail.**ne1.yahoo.com<1345283393.42074.YahooMailNeo at web125102.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>,
 >> at 02:49:53 on Sat, 18 Aug 2012, Imran Ahmed Shah <ias_pk at yahoo.com>
 >> writes
 >>
 >> Does this action of "Information Collection" by Google really breach the
 >> Privacy Act, PIPA
 >>
 >>
 >> What Google did was to wiretap (and keep) small fragments of the traffic
 >> on wifi hotpots as they drove past.
 >>
 >> That's probably an offence under long standing law in most countries (I
 >> wouldn't want to start making a list of them off the cuff).
 >>
 >> For it to have been a real threat to the persons in question, they would
 >> have had to refrain from switching on encryption[1] and to have been
 >> sending/receiving some emails (or whatever) in exactly the few seconds the
 >> Google Streetcar was listening to that particular hotspot.
 >>
 >> [1] Even the simplest type would have been sufficient, the fragments
 >> captured are not enough to start any useful "cracking".
 >> --
 >> Roland Perry
 >>
 >>
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