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Google’s Ridiculous Opt-out Data Gathering

Source: Greater choice for wireless access point owners

Alright, Google, this is just ridiculous. I’m going to pick on Google here because that’s where the announcement is from. Here’s the gist:

If you want Google to NOT gather your location data attached to your wireless access point (via their Google Street Cars), then you need to append “_nomap” onto your SSID. That’s right, you need to opt out of Google driving down the street and gathering information about the location of your access point.

Why in the world is this not the other way around!? You should have to OPT-IN to allowing Google to gather this information. Have a person append “_map” to the end of their SSID so that Google has permission to gather information about you.

I just don’t get it. I just don’t.

2 replies on “Google’s Ridiculous Opt-out Data Gathering”

Well why should people who want to participate be inconvenienced by having to mess up their SSID with an ugly _map at the end?

Let the unfriendly paranoid people clutter up their SSID.

The problem with both of these solutions is that most people don’t even know what an SSID is.

Truth.

I would be happier if they just allowed people to opt-in, maybe even over the web, supplying their information. This isn’t just aimed at Google, but it is aimed at everyone who is gathering this information.

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