Fitted with radio aerials, the street view car of Internet search services provider Google, Inc., US, has reportedly mapped the UK's entire wireless network. The database thus collated, media reports indicate, is used for commercial purposes through Google's search engine.
Every WiFi wireless router (a device that links a computer with the Internet) has reportedly been entered into a Google database. According to media reports, the street view cars have photographed almost every home in the country.
The data is used on Google Maps to help cell-phone and iPhone users to access information relevant to the area. The project remained secret until a recent inquiry in Germany forced Google to admit that it had 'mistakenly' downloaded e-mails and other data from unsecured wireless networks.
Google had then argued that companies such as Skyhook Wireless, which has a contract with Apple, have already mapped the networks. According to Google, the information, which lists the networks' Service Set-ID (SSID) number and Media Access Control (MAC) address but not their house number, is publicly available. This is so because the wireless signals extend beyond the property in which they are located.
Though Google has suspended the use of street view cars across the world, its work in the UK is already complete.
Authorities in the US, the UK and other countries have asked Google to retain the downloaded e-mails pending a full inquiry. However, it is not clear what its obligations are concerning the WiFi data. Privacy campaigners point to a breakdown in regulation. They claim that more meticulous regulation with a deeper comprehension of the issues involved and the related technology might have ensured that such a breach of privacy did not happen.
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