[whackberry]

Exactly. We don't go into people's homes not because they have a fence and a shotgun but because we were not invited, that is the whole point.

Most of the arguments here circle around "ah you were a fool to let your data out, so Google was wise and snooped it". WTF kind argument is that? Since when is it ok for a corporation to hire "experts" who go around collecting private data? What is this data for? Why, in the first place, do they have a wifi expert driving around doing that?

[option_greek]

I think you are not aware of the context here. The reason they have a wifi expert roaming around is because they are marking free wifi spots as part of streetview.

[whackberry]

I am aware of the context.

To mark hotspots you don't need packet sniffing or data capture of any kind. Why is Google capturing packet payload during "wardriving"? Nobody does that. All you do is store the GPS location, plus basic AP identification, period.

[jlawer]

Sure you do,

How do you know if an open wifi is a corp network that just enforces VPNs to actually do anything?