Google StreetView cars grabbed traffic from open WiFi networks

Google has admitted that it has been “mistakenly” collecting payload data from open WiFi networks as its Street View cars drove around taking pictures. The company said that it never used any information about who was using those networks and what sites they were visiting, but the company has nonetheless decided to completely stop collecting WiFi data from its Street View cars.

Google put up a blog post last month detailing exactly what kind of data its Street View cars collected in response to an inquiry from German lawmakers. At the time, Google said that it collects SSID information as well as the MAC addresses of WiFi routers it encounters along the Street View route. This is for use in Google’s location-based services, like Skyhook Wireless‘ services that are widely used on mobile devices without GPS.

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