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by nrahnemoon1 4075 days ago
In their FAQ they haven't addressed the security issues when connecting to public WiFi hotspots. The user's traffic would be flowing unencrypted, easily accessible to strangers. I wonder if they'll be providing free VPN service when connected to public WiFi.
4 comments

"Know your data is safe

Your data is secured through encryption when we connect you to open Wi-Fi hotspots. It's like your data has a private tunnel to drive through."

So that's a yes

ETA: Of course this does mean Google has the plaintext, but then, your ISP always has the plaintext unless you're bringing your own encryption, so this is really no different.

Google is also in a much better position to make use of that data & metadata than the typical ISP.
At the same time they're not going to invite shoddy monitoring/injection services like many ISPs have done.
>When Project Fi automatically connects you to an open Wi-Fi network, we help protect your data by sending it through a secure connection, known as a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This secure connection protects your data from being looked at by other users on the open Wi-Fi network.

https://fi.google.com/about/faq/#wifi-connection-and-calls-2

VPN.

Quoth the source:

Know your data is safe

Your data is secured through encryption when we connect you to open Wi-Fi hotspots. It's like your data has a private tunnel to drive through.