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  Google Street View Data Included Passwords and E-Mail

  JP 1:45 am on June 20, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: G. Originally, Germany (7), google (174), google street view, intentional wrongdoing, legal repercussions, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), Spain (2), Street (5)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  It was less than two weeks ago that Google agreed to turn over the data it inadvertently collected while assembling Street View. Now the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL) has announced the results of its analysis and things do not look good for the G. Originally Google said that it had only recorded “fragments” of data, but an examination of the data revealed that it accidentally collected and stored complete passwords and e-mails.

  Its too early to say what, if any, legal repercussions Google faces, but it’s already clear that the company was not completely upfront about the incident which could further damage its reputation with consumers, many of whom have not completely forgiven it for the debacle that was the launch of Buzz. Things may only get worse as authorities in both Spain and Germany are also looking to audit the roughly 600GB of data. Of course, there is no reason to believe that there was any intentional wrongdoing on behalf of Google, and the company should be commended on its honest handling of the situation. Still, the collection and storing of private data is a massive mistake, and someone, somewhere is going to end up paying for it. [From: InfoWorld]

  Google Street View Data Included Passwords and E-Mail originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Googlemobiles Are Scanning German Wi-Fi Networks

  JP 2:33 am on May 1, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Colonel Sanders, german news magazine, Germany (7), Google Street (13), google street view, Mac (36), media access control, nbsp (1,601), Peter Schaar, Read (1,390), Register, View (13)

  Filed under: Google

  

  According to The Register, Google Street View cars in Germany have been scanning Wi-Fi networks and recording users’ Media Access Control (MAC) address, which are unique identifiers assigned to networks, without permission. The country’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Peter Schaar isn’t happy about it, either. “I am appalled… I call upon Google to delete previously unlawfully collected personal data on the wireless network immediately and stop the rides for Street View,” he told a German broadcaster. This isn’t the first time Street View has riled up some European folks with privacy concerns. But recording MAC addresses is a big deal, since a person’s identity could eventually be culled from this data by cross-referencing it with other data.

  However, German news magazine Spiegel reports that Google has been doing this since 2008. If that’s true, we wonder why nobody has said anything before now? The issue is that geolocation information is collected by myriad sources, from ISPs to cell providers, all hoping to map and track what Google calls “publicly broadcast information.” Obviously, a compromise will be reached between Google and the Germans’ desire for privacy. After all, Google agreed to blur faces a couple years back, even going as far as blurring Colonel Sanders’ face. [From: The Register, via: Google Blogoscoped]

  Googlemobiles Are Scanning German Wi-Fi Networks originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Milkman Blames Google Street View for Garage Burglary

  JP 10:40 am on April 17, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: garage (2), google (174), Google Street (13), google street view, Gordon Rayner, nbsp (1,601), open garage, Rayner, Read (1,390), View (13)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  

  Google’s Street View application has certainly captured bizarre people doing bizarre things. And it’s definitely come under fire from some who claim that it crosses a certain line of privacy. But could Street View really help criminals target their victims?

  Such is the claim made by 52-year-old Englishman Gordon Rayner, who says that Google’s Street View enticed a group of burglars to attack his home. According to the Telegraph, the depiction of Rayner’s house appears on Street View shows his garage door wide open and everything inside. Although the house’s windows and Rayner’s face are both blocked out on Google, he believes the search engine should’ve blacked out his open garage door, as well, calling it “an invitation for any criminal to take what they like.” The break-in happened on March 12, and resulted in Rayner’s bike getting swiped. The same burglars reportedly returned on two other nights, but were unsuccessful in sneaking into his garage.

  Continue reading Milkman Blames Google Street View for Garage Burglary

  Milkman Blames Google Street View for Garage Burglary originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Street View Awards Show Best of U.K. Without the Black Pudding

  JP 3:10 pm on March 9, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Awards, Britain (9), cobblestone road, Foodie Street, Google Street (13), google street view, High Street, Ian Addyman, Milsom Street, nbsp (1,601), Picturesque Street, Read (1,390), U.K. (35), U.K. Street, View (13), york (4)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  

  They might not have as high a profile as the Oscars, but Britain’s first annual Google Street View Awards ceremony was held Monday. The Telegraph reports a panel of U.K. experts, selected by Google, and about 11,000 online participants voted a cobblestone road in York, called The Shambles, “Britain’s Most Picturesque Street.” “It has been the backdrop for many a jigsaw, chocolate box and railway poster and once you visit you will see why,” shop owner Ian Addyman told the Telegraph.

  The competition, intended to hype the many new locations added to the U.K. Street View, also included other award categories. Bath’s Milsom Street won for “Best Fashion” and Hampshire’s Stockbridge High Street came away with “Best Foodie Street.” In return, these winning walks get a ton of free publicity (which business owners must love), and will be highlighted on Street View with special guides and point-of-interest markers. Google hasn’t provided Street View links on the Awards announcement, but you can still browse the best of the digitized U.K. via the voting page. [From: Telegraph and Google]

  Gallery: The Shambles on Google Street View

  

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  Street View Awards Show Best of U.K. Without the Black Pudding originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Is Google Street View Taking Its Cameras Indoors?

  JP 12:53 am on February 10, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: America (15), But Street, candy shop, google (174), Google Street (13), google street view, nbsp (1,601), New York City (7), Read (1,390), Store (7), View (13)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  

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  Google Street View can take you down almost any street in America, and through just about every major city worldwide. But Street View stops right where its name implies — in the street. That might be changing though, if a source that e-mailed the blog, Search Engine Land, is to be believed.

  New York City nut and candy shop, Oh Nuts, e-mailed Search Engine Land claiming a representative from Google came in and took photos of the store and its products for a new feature tentatively called Google Store Views. The store provided images from the security camera showing a person moving around the shop taking photos with a tripod, but all that proves is that someone was moving a camera around the store.

  Continue reading Is Google Street View Taking Its Cameras Indoors?

  Is Google Street View Taking Its Cameras Indoors? originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Street View Catches Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne on Front Lawn... in Bathtub

  JP 12:52 am on January 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bathtub, google maps street view, Google Street (13), google street view, Lawn, nbsp (1,601), Oklahoma City, Read (1,390), singer wayne coyne, View (13), Wayne Coyne

  Filed under: Celebrities, Google, Web

  

  Some blogs may file Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne’s Google Street View bathtub romp under ‘News of the Weird.’ But not us. To us, the headline ‘Street View Images Show Coyne Sitting in Bathtub on Front Lawn’ is about as shocking as ‘Street View Images Show Grand Canyon Being Really Huge.’ Either way, in the above image and on Google Maps, in a clawfoot bathtub, in front of Coyne’s Oklahoma City abode is a pasty, shirtless, pixelated figure with a woolly beard and shock of dark hair. And since, surely, no fan or friend of the party-prog rocker has an undersunned complexion, a woolly beard, or dark hair (and also, we may add, camps on Coyne’s lawn), it must be him. Or it might not. Regardless, though, we’re pleased, because a fan, or maybe a member, of the Flaming Lips has taken a bath. Now that’s something to write about. [From: NME and Google Maps]

  Street View Catches Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on Front Lawn… in Bathtub originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Musician Follows Google Street View in Search of Fame

  JP 8:55 pm on December 11, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Canada (8), google (174), Google Street (13), google street view, Heagy, Nate, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), saskatoon canada, View (13)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  

  When a band engages in viral marketing, it usually wants to make sure the plan is well thought out, and the gimmick is highly visible. But not Nate Heagy, of Fear Salesman, an industrial tinged, pop-rock group from Saskatoon, Canada, who decided that the best way to draw attention to his band was to simply pop up on Google Street View.

  Heagy told the CBC in an interview, “When Google announced that Street View was coming to Saskatoon, a light bulb went on… I figured Saskatoon’s not that big, I could probably find the Google car if I really wanted to.” So Heagy drove around with sign in the back off his car waiting for the day he encountered the Google mobile.

  Continue reading Musician Follows Google Street View in Search of Fame

  Musician Follows Google Street View in Search of Fame originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Google Street View Catches Burning Van

  JP 12:32 pm on October 16, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blogger (2), breaking with tradition, Dude (3), endless entertainment, Google Street (13), google street view, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), Toronto (5), Van, View (13)

  Filed under: Google, Web

  

  Google Street View provides endless entertainment, as the Googlemobile frequently catches people basking in the nude, breaking into buildings, and hiding out while they should be working. Breaking with tradition, though, I Am The Worst Blogger discovered an awesome Street View image that could have actually helped someone, rather than helping to incarcerate them. The image clearly depicts a flaming van parked in somebody’s driveway. So, if you happen to live in Toronto and are having some work done on your house, YO! Dude! Look out your window! [From: I Am the Worst Blogger, via Urlesque]

  Google Street View Catches Burning Van originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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