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Google Wardriving: How Engineering Trumped Privacy |
Blame the Street View data collection practices on a "more is more" engineering mindset. And rethink your notions about privacy for unencrypted Wi-Fi data. |
During a two-year period, Google captured oodles of Wi-Fi data worldwide as part of its Street View program. But why? |
Blame the engineering ethos that's prevalent at high-technology companies like Google. You know the "more is more" mindset: more bells and whistles equals greater goodness. |
Of course some technology giants, including Apple and Google, have produced products or services that succeed by distilling that approach. Rather than cramming every last feature into their products, these companies include only the best ones. For example, compare the 2003-era iPod to its rivals, or Google Search to its predecessors. |
But an unfiltered engineering mindset would help explain the apparent thinking behind the Street View wardriving program: "Well, if this Wi-Fi data is flying around and no one is encrypting it, what reasonable expectation do they have that it won't be sniffed and stored?" |
The "Engineer Doe" responsible for adding full payload data capture to the Street View program invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and refused to be deposed by government lawyers. The FCC, meanwhile, only learned his identity--redacted from all documents Google had initially provided to the agency--because Google had disclosed it to state investigators. While the state in question wasn't named, a former state investigator who worked on the Google case has identified the engineer as Marius Milner, a former Lucent Technologies employee who joined Google in 2003. |
Despite that revelation, we're still left to guess at his exact thoughts and motivations. Notably, however, he wasn't the only Google employee interested in the data. True, at first, Google blamed the entire episode on a "rogue engineer" who was hungry for the product possibilities such data might afford. But Google design documents later provided to the Federal Communications Commission demonstrated that managers had commissioned the wardriving program, to help them build Wi-Fi maps. |
"As Street View testing progressed, Google engineers decided that the Company should also use the Street View for 'wardriving,' which is the practice of driving streets and using equipment to locate LANs using Wi-Fi, such as wireless hotspots at coffee shops and home wireless networks," according to the FCC's report. "By collecting information about Wi-Fi networks (such as the MAC address, SSID, and strength of signal received from the wireless access point) and associating it with global positioning system (GPS) information, companies can develop maps of wireless access points for use in location-based services." |
Milner, the previously unnamed engineer that Google tapped to add the wardriving capabilities, went further by adding code to also record all unencrypted packets--or what's known as payload data--within range of Google's Street View cars, which he "thought might prove useful for other Google service," according to the FCC's report. Managers also signed off on these design documents, and at least one senior manager later asked the engineer to review the wardriving data set for interesting Web navigation statistics. |
New Privacy Questions, Old Laws |
Why didn't the initial payload-data-capture decision face legal review? Likely because Google is a company built by engineers, and run by engineers. The code rules. And in fact, Google employees told the FCC that anyone working full-time on the Street View project was allowed to modify the code--no approval needed--if they thought they could improve it. |
But capturing payload data raises numerous privacy questions. Indeed, investigators in other countries found that the data captured by Google's Street View software--the same software was likely employed in the United States--could be highly sensitive. A 2010 report from Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner, for example, noted that it was "troubled to have found instances of particularly sensitive information, including computer login credentials (i.e., usernames and passwords), the details of legal infractions, and certain medical listings." |
In 2011, meanwhile, France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes examined a sample of payload data collected by Google in France, and found 656 MB of information, "including passwords for Internet sites and data related to Internet navigation, including passwords for Internet sites and data relating to online dating and pornographic sites," according to the FCC report. The French report suggests that combining the location data, together with the 6 MB of email data recovered--including details of at least one extramarital affair--would have allowed data miners to learn people's names, addresses, sexual preferences, and more. |
If "more is more" rules for engineers, the privacy default is traditionally "more is less." People have the expectation that not everything they do or say should be a matter of public record. Accordingly, if you surreptitiously collect too much data, then you may be infringing people's right to privacy. Cue punishment. |
But not here. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission both investigated Street View, and chose to not prosecute. The FCC in its report likewise said that collecting Wi-Fi data, at least in this case, didn't seem to fall under its ability to regulate the Communications Act of 1934. Furthermore, because Milner refused to testify, the FCC couldn't fully understand why he did what he did, and if his intentions were at all malicious. |
But there's one thing everyone has agreed he didn't do. On Milner's design document to-do list was this entry: "[D]iscuss privacy considerations with Product Counsel." According to the FCC, "that never occurred." |
If you suspect that having someone intercept your unencrypted Wi-Fi data might be against the law, think again. The FCC in its report noted that Google may not have done anything illegal, either by intercepting information, or analyzing it, especially because it left encrypted data alone. "Although Google also collected and stored encrypted communications sent over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, the Bureau [meaning, the FCC] has found no evidence that Google accessed or did anything with such encrypted communications," according to its report. Thankfully, the FCC said that the unencrypted payload data appeared to have been accessed only twice: once by Milner to see if there was anything useful for creating Google products, and then in 2010 when Google supervisors verified that payload data had in fact been collected. |
Google said that while the payload data collection shouldn't have happened, it hadn't violated any laws. Notably, it argued that the Wiretap Act allows for the interception of radio signals that are "readily accessible to the general public," meaning they're not scrambled or encrypted. The FCC appeared to agree. |
To be clear: the Google Street View episode illustrates that people shouldn't have any expectations that their unencrypted data won't be captured. Hopefully, that revelation will provoke sharp questions in Congress about whether, in this day and age, the Wiretap Act or other communications regulations still work. |
Should someone be allowed to park outside your house and intercept your Wi-Fi signals? People never used shortwave radios to send their usernames and passwords to their bank, or to search Google. But as the French and Canadian investigators found, Wi-Fi data can reveal numerous secrets. Shouldn't the law help safeguard those? |
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User Rank: Apprentice |
5/1/2012 | 4:34:59 PM |
re: Google Wardriving: How Engineering Trumped Privacy |
Well Put... I had a similar response planned, but you summed it up nicely |
User Rank: Apprentice |
5/1/2012 | 4:06:41 PM |
re: Google Wardriving: How Engineering Trumped Privacy |
No they should not change the law. If you are using a non-encrypted WI-FI connection then you should expect everything you do to be readily accessible to anyone. You don't leave something valuable on the curb and not expect it to be taken. So why would you expect non-encrypted data to not be read? The only people at fault here are people who run non-encrypted WIFI routers. Every ISP (that I know of) requires you to have your Wi-Fi access point encrypted. So everyone who is running a non-encrypted access point is violating a EULA already. Laws don't stop criminals. Locks stop criminals. Encryption stops people from listening in. Lock down your access point by putting encryption on it and this issue will be over. Don't get congress involved in this, they are too stupid to understand these concepts and will make everyone's lives worse off with some stupid law. Remember SOPA? |
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Lesson 24: “Be Not Deceived, but Continue in Steadfastness” |
Doctrine and Covenants and Church History: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (1999), 134–39 |
To help class members understand how they can avoid deception and apostasy. |
1. 1. |
Prayerfully study Doctrine and Covenants 26; 28; 43:1–7; 50; 52:14–19; and the other scriptures in this lesson. |
2. 2. |
3. 3. |
Obtain a chart of the current General Authorities from a recent conference issue of a Church magazine. |
4. 4. |
You may want to assign class members to present the stories in the first section of the lesson. Give them copies of the stories in advance. |
Suggestions for Lesson Development |
Attention Activity |
Write the following phrases on the chalkboard: |
• A pint of cream |
• A misspelled name |
• No available seating at the Kirtland Temple dedication |
Tell class members that these phrases all have something in common. They are all reasons given by early Church members for their apostasy from the Church. |
Explain that today’s lesson discusses how to avoid individual apostasy. These phrases and the stories that go with them will be explained later in the lesson. |
Discussion and Application |
Prayerfully select the lesson material that will best meet class members’ needs. Discuss how the selected material applies to daily life. |
1. We should recognize the deceptions of Satan that can lead us into apostasy. |
Explain that during the early years of the Church, some members were deceived by Satan and led into apostasy, or rebellion against God. A few members who apostatized became enemies of the Church and contributed to the persecutions of the Saints in Ohio and Missouri. As members of the Church today, we must be faithful and watchful so we are not deceived. |
• Read D&C 50:2–3 and 2 Nephi 2:18, 27 with class members. Why does Satan want to deceive us? What are some of the ways in which Satan tries to deceive us and lead us into apostasy? (Use the following information to discuss or add to class members’ responses. Write the headings on the chalkboard.) |
Not recognizing the prophet as the source of revelation for the Church |
Some members are deceived by false prophets. The following account shows how several early Saints were temporarily deceived by false revelations. |
In 1830, Hiram Page, one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, possessed a stone through which he claimed to receive revelations about the building of Zion and the order of the Church. Oliver Cowdery, the Whitmers, and others believed these claims. However, the Prophet Joseph Smith said the claims “were entirely at variance with the order of God’s house, as laid down in the New Testament, as well as in our late revelations” (History of the Church, 1:110). |
The Prophet prayed about the matter and received a revelation in which the Lord made clear that only the President of the Church has the right to receive revelations for the Church (D&C 28). The Lord instructed Oliver Cowdery to tell Hiram Page that the revelations that came through the stone were from Satan (D&C 28:11). After hearing the Lord’s instructions, “Brother Page, as well as the whole Church who were present, renounced the said stone, and all things connected therewith” (History of the Church, 1:115). |
Some members are deceived because of their pride. The following story illustrates how pride led Thomas B. Marsh, who was President of the Quorum of the Twelve, and his wife, Elizabeth, into apostasy. |
After 19 years of darkness and bitterness, Thomas B. Marsh painfully made his way to the Salt Lake Valley and asked Brigham Young to forgive him and permit his rebaptism into the Church. He wrote to Heber C. Kimball, First Counselor in the First Presidency: “I began to awake to a sense of my situation; … I know that I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight.” He then described the lesson he had learned: “The Lord could get along very well without me and He has lost nothing by my falling out of the ranks; But O what have I lost?! Riches, greater riches than all this world or many planets like this could afford” (quoted by James E. Faust, in Conference Report, Apr. 1996, 6; or Ensign, May 1996, 7). |
• What can we learn from this story? How have you seen pride lead people into deception and apostasy? What does the Lord promise to those who humble themselves before Him? (See D&C 112:2–3, 10; Ether 12:27. Note that D&C 112 is a revelation given to Thomas B. Marsh through the Prophet Joseph Smith.) |
Being critical of leaders’ imperfections |
Some members are deceived because they become critical of Church leaders’ imperfections. The following story illustrates how Simonds Ryder was deceived in this way. |
Simonds Ryder was converted to the Church in 1831. Later he received a letter signed by the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, informing him that it was the Lord’s will, made manifest by the Spirit, that he preach the gospel. Both in the letter he received and in the official commission to preach, his name was spelled Rider instead of Ryder. Simonds Ryder “thought if the ‘Spirit’ through which he had been called to preach could err in the matter of spelling his name, it might have erred in calling him to the ministry as well; or, in other words, he was led to doubt if he were called at all by the Spirit of God, because of the error in spelling his name!” (History of the Church, 1:261). Simonds Ryder later apostatized from the Church. |
• What can we learn from this story? How does being critical of our Church leaders make us more susceptible to deception? |
Being offended |
Some Church members become offended by the actions of other members and allow an offense to fester until they are led into apostasy. An example of this is illustrated in the following incident. |
When the Kirtland Temple was completed, many Saints gathered for the dedication. The seats in the temple filled quickly, and many people were allowed to stand, but still not everyone could be accommodated inside the building. Elder Frazier Eaton, who had given $700 for the building of the temple, arrived after it had been filled, so he was not allowed inside for the dedication. The dedication was repeated the next day for those who could not be accommodated the first day, but this did not satisfy Frazier Eaton, and he apostatized. (See George A. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 11:9.) |
• What can we learn from this story? How do we today allow ourselves to be offended by others? How can being offended lead to apostasy? How can we overcome feelings of being offended? |
• Read D&C 64:8–11 and D&C 82:1 with class members. Whom does the Lord require us to forgive? Why is it sometimes difficult to be forgiving? What are some of the consequences of not forgiving someone? What can we do to help us forgive someone whom we have not yet forgiven? |
Rationalizing disobedience |
Rationalizing is excusing or defending unacceptable behavior. It is looking for a way to ease our consciences for doing something we know is wrong. |
• How is rationalization a form of deception? How do we sometimes try to rationalize our behavior? Why is this dangerous? How can we recognize and overcome rationalization? |
Accepting the false teachings of the world |
• What are some of the false teachings of the world that can deceive members and lead them into apostasy? (Examples could include the false ideas that the commandments of God are too restrictive, that immorality is acceptable, and that material possessions are more important than spiritual things.) |
Presiding Bishop H. David Burton taught: “One of [Satan’s] insidious strategies is to progressively soften our senses regarding what is right and wrong. Satan would have us convinced that it is fashionable to lie and cheat. He encourages us to view pornography by suggesting that it prepares us for the real world. He would have us believe that immorality is an attractive way of life and that obedience to the commandments of our Father in Heaven is old-fashioned. Satan constantly bombards us with deceptive propaganda desirably packaged and carefully disguised” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1993, 60; or Ensign, May 1993, 46). |
2. We can remain valiant in our testimonies and avoid deception. |
Explain that the Lord has given us many blessings and commandments to help us remain valiant in our testimonies and avoid being deceived. |
• What can we do to keep ourselves from being deceived and led into apostasy? (Use the following information to develop this discussion.) |
We can know clearly whom the Lord has called to lead the Church |
• During the early years of the Church, many people claimed to receive revelations to guide the Church or correct the Prophet Joseph Smith. What did the Lord reveal in response to these claims? (See D&C 28:2, 6–7; 43:1–3. Point out that D&C 28 was revealed when Hiram Page claimed to receive revelations for the entire Church, and D&C 43 was revealed when others made similar claims.) |
• Who receives revelations and commandments for the entire Church today? |
President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency taught: “The Lord has … appointed one man at a time on the earth to hold the keys of revelation to the entire body of the Church in all its organizations, authorities, ordinances and doctrines. The spirit of revelation is bestowed upon all its members for the benefit and enlightenment of each individual receiving its inspiration, and according to the sphere in which he or she is called to labor. But for the entire Church, he who stands at the head is alone appointed to receive revelations by way of commandment and as the end of controversy” (in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [1965–75], 4:270). |
• How can we avoid being deceived by those who claim falsely to have received revelation for the Church? (See D&C 43:4–7.) |
• Read D&C 26:2 and D&C 28:13 with class members. What is the principle of common consent? (See D&C 20:65; 42:11. It is the practice of showing that we are willing to sustain those who are called to serve in the Church, usually by raising our right hands.) How can the principle of common consent protect us from being deceived? (It allows us to know who has been called to preside and administer in the Church, thus keeping us from being deceived by the claims of those who have not been properly called.) |
Display a chart of current General Authorities (see “Preparation,” item 3). Emphasize the blessing we have of sustaining these leaders and following their counsel. |
We should study the scriptures and the doctrines of the Church |
• Read D&C 1:37 and D&C 33:16 with class members. Explain that throughout the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord teaches the importance of studying the scriptures. How can studying the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets help us avoid being deceived? (Answers could include those listed below.) |
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