IP Democracy: Google Wi-Fi and Privacy Issues

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Verne Kopytoff has this article about Google’s winning Wi-Fi bid in San Francisco and the privacy concerns it raises. Google, as the company has long maintained, wants to offer free Wi-Fi service in order to sell more advertising. As it turns out, Wi-Fi is a technology particularly useful for geo-tracking users, something that advertisers appreciate.

It’s no surprise, then, that Google plans to develop rich data on users’ Internet activities based on location.

The Mountain View search engine intends to use the geographic data to match users with advertising so that they would see marketing messages from neighborhood businesses such as pizza parlors, cafes and book stores. Google plans to use technology that would allow it to track users’ whereabouts within a few hundred feet. The company said in its bid that it would retain the data for up to 180 days before deleting it, as part of an effort to “maintain the Google Wi-Fi network and deliver the best possible service.”

EFF, among other privacy advocates, fear this accumulation of data, but not because of worries that Google itself might misuse the information. The fear is whether other people (read: law enforcement and the Feds) will start asking for the data. It’s a good thing, then, that Google put up such a fight when the DOJ subpoenaed its search data.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on April 9, 2006 1:45 PM to IP Democracy