{"id":1112,"date":"2010-06-06T11:38:05","date_gmt":"2010-06-06T19:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2010-06-19T23:22:25","modified_gmt":"2010-06-20T07:22:25","slug":"google-patent-is-a-shocker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/?p=1112","title":{"rendered":"Google patent is a shocker"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many who have assumed Google's WiFi snooping was “limited” to mapping of routers.\u00a0 However an article in Computerworld <\/a>reporting on new developments in an Oregon class action\u00a0law suit <\/a>links to a patent application that speaks volumes<\/a> about what is at stake here.\u00a0 The abstract begins (emphasis is mine):<\/p>\n

“The invention pertains to location approximation of devices, e.g., wireless access points and client devices<\/strong> in a wireless network. “<\/p>\n

By “client” the patent is referring to devices being used by you and your family<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0This interest in the family devices\u00a0is exactly what I supposed – it is the natural\u00a0conclusion\u00a0you reach\u00a0using\u00a0the kind of thinking\u00a0that drove\u00a0the Street View WiFi initiative.\u00a0 The abstract continues,<\/p>\n

“Location estimates may be obtained by observation\/analysis of packets transmitted or received by the access point. For instance, data rate information associated with a packet is used to approximate the distance between a client device and the access point. This may be coupled with known positioning information to arrive at an approximate location for the access point. Confidence information and metrics about whether a device is an access point and the location of that device<\/strong> may also be determined…<\/p>\n

“A location information database of access points may employ measurements from various devices over time. Such information may identify the location of client devices and provide location-based services to them<\/strong>. “<\/p>\n

The system is actually doing measurements inside your house or business.<\/em><\/p>\n

We will refer to these aspects of the plan when examining in further detail the potential harm the construction of massive MAC address databases can bring.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[Read the whole patent here<\/a>]<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is now categorically clear that Google is mapping client devices like phones and laptops with their Street View cars, and taking precise measurements of their placement within peoples’ houses and businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,11,77],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identityblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}