"This information was leaking out and they picked it up. If you are going to broadcast your email on an open wi-fi, don't be surprised if someone picks it up."

John Simpson, from the Consumer Watchdog, told the BBC: "The problem is [Google] have a bunch of engineers who push the envelope and gather as much information as they can and don't think about the ramifications of that."

Dr Ian Brown, an expert on privacy and cyber security at the Oxford Internet Institute, told BBC News the wi-fi data collection was part of an idea to accurately map a user's location on Google Map and Street View.

"The idea was to use to the different signals and strengths from wi-fi and phones to position a users - think of it as a sort of GPS.

"However, there are concerns in many countries that Google has broken numerous data protection and privacy laws by collecting this data and I expect a clutch of lawsuits to follow," he said.

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And of course if someone complains that "googgle" is mispelt in the toon at top, think of it as a cross between google and goggles — "googgling" being the art of perveted spying while being hidden behind an official pair of safety glasses called goggles...

Google is "almost certain" to face prosecution for collecting data from unsecured wi-fi networks, according to Privacy International (PI).

The search giant has been under scrutiny for collecting wi-fi data as part of its StreetView project.

Google has released an independent audit of the rogue code, which it has claimed was included in the StreetView software by mistake.

But PI is convinced the audit proves "criminal intent".

"The independent audit of the Google system shows that the system used for the wi-fi collection intentionally separated out unencrypted content (payload data) of communications and systematically wrote this data to hard drives. This is equivalent to placing a hard tap and a digital recorder onto a phone wire without consent or authorisation," said PI in a statement.

This would put Google at odds with the interception laws of the 30 countries that the system was used in, it added.

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see toon at top...

Google has come under attack for violating users' privacy and ignoring their wishes after admitting that it intentionally circumvented security settings in Apple's Safari browser to track users on both desktop computers and iPhones.

A number of other advertisers exploited the loophole it had created to track those users too.

"Our data suggests that millions of users may have been affected," Jonathan Mayer, the independent researcher at Stanford University who discovered the workaround by the search giant, told the Guardian.

An Apple spokesman said: "We are aware that some third parties are circumventing Safari's privacy features and we are working to put a stop to it."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/17/google-admits-tracking-safari-users

Google has been fined $US22.5 million for violating the privacy of millions of people who use Apple's Safari web browser.

The fine, announced by the US Federal Trade Commission, is the biggest imposed against a company for violating a previous agreement with the Commission.

Last October Google signed an agreement that included a pledge not to mislead consumers about privacy practices.

But Google was accused of using cookies to secretly track the habits of millions of people who used Apple's Safari internet browser on iPhones and iPads.

Google has said its tracking was not deliberate and it did not collect personal information such as names, addresses or credit card details.

Google has agreed to pay the fine, which is the largest penalty ever placed on a company for violating an FTC order.

But it is still a drop in the bucket compared to Google's second-quarter revenues of $US12.21 billion.

David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, acknowledged the penalty may seem small, but said it sends a clear message to protect privacy in the future.

"We have Google under order for another 19 years ... and if there's further violations, one could anticipate that the Commission would insist on increasingly higher civil penalties," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-10/google-fined-22-million-for-safari-privacy-breach/4189836

As a user of Safari, daily, I expect my program not to be spied upon... Ah ah ah... I live in dreamland...