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| (Credit: InsideGoogle) |
What most people don't know is that the very same search engine you probably use everyday is using their data collecting technology and your unsecured networks to gather even more personal information then you could ever imagine.
All Eyes on You
In recent years, search engine heavyweight Google has been catching a lot of controversy over how they have mislead their dedicated users who have been caught up in an unofficial experiment that is stealing users personal information such as passwords and monitoring users online activity such as what sites they go on, what they search, and can even track the location of a user all around the world.Fingers where first pointed when several countries in Europe started to realize that Google was wrongfully gathering information through their Street View explorations. Due to the strong data protection and privacy laws around Europe, this raised a lot of suspicion causing the countries to start investigating Google and allowing the story to gain world-wide attention. As word gets around more and more people are trying to find an explanation as to why exactly any of this was able to happen and how it can be solved and made right.
How the Software Works
According to a report by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), they stated that the data stealing software being used was created by a single engineer who worked for Google. The software was claimed to be an independent side project for the engineer and not meant to be used for any actual Google data testing. |
| Google Street View car (Credit: FastCompany) |
The data collecting software was installed into Google’s Street View cars. These modified cars are designed to drive around capturing photos of streets and buildings as well as pinpointing locations to help strengthen the accuracy of Google Maps and Google Earth. However, while driving around the cars also pick up data strictly from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. This data can include: Contact information, sites visited, items searched, as well as private information from email's and social networks.
That means that if you are on a network that isn't password protected it is likely that your personal information would be compromised and stored into what the FCC refers to as “payload data”, which is information that is not being reviewed or used currently but is being stored for future use.
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| Google Street View of the Redwood Hwy in San Francisco, California (Credit: pixelfreund) |
Why You Should Care
Your privacy as an individual is something that should be heavily valued and when it is compromised then you have every reason to be outraged and take per-cautions. I believe that what Google is doing by compromising the information of its unknowing users is completely uncalled for. It is allowing the corporation to use the unsuspecting public as its guinea pigs for technological experiments. In efforts to build a more complex and intimate software system for its users to explore, Google is building bigger walls between itself as provider and the users that are now struggling to trust the company. Using the internet has its positives and downsides that anyone who is going to use it should be aware of, but at no point should a well known and trusted corporation such as Google blindly extracting private date from from unknowing users have to be something people should need to worry about. |
| (Credit: Cheezburger) |
How You Can Protect Yourself
If you are skeptical about whether or not Google is going to be stealing information
from you then here are some tips on how to avoid unwanted monitoring:
1) Don’t use Google! Period. - The best way to be sure Google isn't spying on you is to just not use it or any of its applications. That way you can be sure none of your information will be compromised. Besides, its not like Google is the only search engine around. Check out these top 5 Google alternatives
2) Delete all of your cookies from Google – an action
simply accessed through your online ‘Tools’ option allows you to remove all of
the data that sites have stored from your use such as passwords and other
things you might not want being stored.
3) Never accept to have a
Google account permanently save your log in information. Never stay
logged in, re-enter information upon re-entering all accounts.
4) If your wireless router was made before 2005, you may need a new one. Check to see whether it can run WPA and turn it on. If it doesn't work then your router is outdated and will not be able to protect you with a secure connection.
4) If your wireless router was made before 2005, you may need a new one. Check to see whether it can run WPA and turn it on. If it doesn't work then your router is outdated and will not be able to protect you with a secure connection.
5) NEVER enter personal
information over unsecured connections. Unencyrpted Wi-Fi connections are the
easiest to breach and any information traded over them is subject to be
compromised by a third party monitor. Always make sure your connections are encrypted and password protected.
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| (Credit: usahitman) |
