Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking as a European (albeit living in the US) this doesn't offend me at all. If you're broadcasting an AP, then it's like walking past your house and noticing what color it's painted. Don't want to broadcast, then plug in a wire. It's not like they're monitoring your traffic. When I was growing up, every household with a telephone got a book that had everyone's name and home address in it. That too was an opt-out…
Noticing something as you walk by and a corporate giant collecting, collating and using that information for something the owner never intended it for are two wildly different things. Context is everything. The phonebook was a well known consequence of having a phone, dating back to the days when the phone companies were state owned public services. These days it would be utterly unacceptable if for instance internet…
Re: Google is mapping your wi-fi access point and the opt-out options stinks
#51No, I don't think they are ignoring laws and I don't share your sensitivities. Of course, that has something to do with my decision to live in the US rather than Europe, but OTOH I make a frequent habit of saying that the US could be more like the EU in some ways, not least having a constitutional right to privacy. But although I am an enthusiastic privacy advocate, the fact is that if you're broadcasting a wifi AP then anyone going past with a wifi device can observe the fact. Choosing to collect and collate that information is no different from a glazier travelling through a neighborhood estimating the size of the window market.