Google tracks users, Internet habits through unsecured Wi-Fi

Google recently came under fire after it was discovered the company had been indirectly tracking users' Internet behavior.

Vehicles shooting photos for Google Maps and Android smartphones would connect to unsecured Wi-Fi networks to keep those networks as "hot spots" for its users. When the cars sent data back to Google headquarters using these unsecured networks, users' e-mails and other information being transferred over the network were also sent to Google. The company originally kept these "hot spots" to make it easier for users to utilize location-based applications.

"The whole nature of their business is that they're an aggregation of data that's out there," said Alex Cook, IT coordinator for continuing education and adjunct mass communication professor.

Google suggested on its official blog these unprotected Wi-Fi networks change their names to include the phrase "_nomap" at the end.

Cook believes Google's answer to this breach of privacy is "silly."

"If you're really concerned about this, that's a pretty flimsy way to protect yourself," Cook said. "How many people really know how to fool with their Wi-Fi network? When I last did it, I had to look it up because it had been four years."

In order to complete the process of removing Google from a user's network, an Android phone has to pick up the network and signal to Google the new name. Only then will Google not use the network, Cook said.

"It's like saying, if you're really worried about someone robbing you, instead of locking your door, you put a sign on the front of your door saying ‘Don't rob me,'" Cook said. "They'll have to gather your information again and transmit it and say, ‘I won't use their Wi-Fi anymore.'"

Taylor Erickson, sociology sophomore, said her wireless network is protected because it's a smart thing to do.

"We pay for it, so I don't want others using it," Erickson said. "If you can have a password, use it, but you can't really complain if you don't set it up.'"

Jean Paul Landreneau, business administration junior, said his network is password-secured to prevent hacking.

"If it's not protected, anyone can get into your network and get onto your desktop," Landreneau said. "People should protect it."

Using and building on preexisting networks and materials has always been a part of Google's business plan, Cook said.

"Instead of building a giant overreaching infrastructure, they're going for an organic infrastructure of people's networks and how they overlap," Cook said.

Cook compared Google's network to "packet sniffing" — the name for going through data being transmitted over the Internet in the form of a packet through networks.

Having an open network allows people to view those packets and lets them "sniff" through the data, Cook said.

"Password-protecting your network will solve all of these problems," Cook said.

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Contact Kittu Pannu at kpannu@lsureveille.com