incrediBILL - 2:03 am on Jun 20, 2010 (gmt 0)

use the data any way they feel like.

Just how much "data" you do think they can gather in a drive by?

You just get a few packets and you're out of range.

Besides, Google has clearly stated the purpose was to use wifi networks to enhance their navigation product and as a user of Google navigation I can appreciate that it reacts faster than GPS alone just by knowing where those networks exist.

All of this privacy hysteria is silly because open wifi isn't private.

No amount of legislation can make it private, it's not.

Maybe these open wifi's need to broadcast the following to opt-out:
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex, noarchive">

The upside is when I go war driving nobody is suspicious because it doesn't say "Google" on the side of my car ;)