[governance] Is this for real?

[Daniel Kalchev]

On 28.02.12 14:25, Robert Guerra wrote:
> It is important to note that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes.

It seems this will just instruct Google to not display to you, what 
information Google has collected about you.
Something, that wasn't even available until recently, yet Google was 
collecting information about you since they exist.

As it was mentioned a number of times, Google has always collected 
"anonymous" information about you and nothing currently will stop them 
doing that.

"anonymous" in their muddy waters mean "we only associate it with your 
IP address, your browser version, screen resolution, few cookies we drop 
here and there and any other identifying information your browser/OS is 
willing to disclose".

Thing is, the combination of the above is sufficiently unique. In recent 
times, it also includes geo-location information, including the (very) 
precise location of your home wifi network.

This is real funny, I once made experiment with the later: while 
traveling, configured an AP with the same SSID that I have at home. When 
asked to locate me on the map, Google "found" me at my home location, 
even if I was few hundred km away from there. An interesting implication 
is that it is very likely law enforcement will have 'evidence' that I 
was at home using Internet at that time....

Google currently collects this information via at least three different 
means:
- by having the ISPs voluntarily assign geo location of public hotspots;
- by surveying cities with mobile instruments, typically in cars 
(Remember the WW2 Nazi surveying for illegal radio stations? :-))
- by using the millions of mobile devices with Android (and iPhones, I 
believe) to map precisely where the particular wireless network is.

If let alone, Google will of course do as they please and will only be 
restrained by their imagination and the currently available technology. 
But as for Internet governance matters, the question is whether there 
should be line drawn on people privacy.

Daniel

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