Sunday, May 16, 2010
Official Google Blog: WiFi data collection: An update
http://sahaye.blogspot.com/2010/05/seems-mr-pegman-wanted-more-than-just.html
Seems Mr. Pegman wanted more than just pictures!

Google's Street View cars have been capturing more than just images and co-ordinates. They even captured personal information from unprotected Wi fi connections. Google announced that it is profoundly sorry for the mistake and didn't realize this depth of data collection due to a communication gap between teams who were programing and executing, but promises to mend ways. The extent of damage goes beyond 30 countries where Street View cars were used and Google is said to have captured personal information such as PC details, email snippets, images, etc. They claim to stop collecting Wifi information with immediate effect for now and are putting in a 3rd party based governance model to avoid any such future blunders.
Privacy jitters, anyone?