[kwlug-disc] [OT] Google sniffing wifi, collecting emails and passwords.

[Adam Glauser]

On 25/06/2010 1:45 PM, unsolicited wrote:
> My guess is you're forgetting, and Glenn can confirm ... Google
> remembers every search / lookup done. Combine their knowledge of your
> MAC address and your IP (from the searches), and you now become a
> potential victim for targeted advertising. You always have been, but now
> they know where you were, so the local plumbing store's ads now come up.
>
> Further, perhaps?, the local plumbing store knows from Google who's in
> the area, and rather than inevitably sending some ads to China instead
> of New Hamburg, they all go to New Hamburg. And they're crackable. (i.e.
> X number of ads sent, etc.)
> <snip>
> So: I have assumed mac + IP -> bad things, and assumed Google isn't
> operating in my best interest.

As I understand it, they would have had to do a "what is my ip"-type 
query on each open network to connect MAC addresses to IP.

Besides, without location-based targeted advertising, how am I supposed 
to find local singles?