Google’s “Wifi Location Opt-Out” policy is horrible and flawed.

In one of my previous posts, I wrote how Google and other companies are tracking our locations via Wifi routers. In order to do that, these company must have a database that stores all of the wifi routers it can find, and their locations.

Google FINALLY just introduced a way to remove your router from their system, however their method is ridiculous, and here’s why.

Reason #1: The “removal method” is so bothersome, most users won’t use it.

Continue reading Google’s “Wifi Location Opt-Out” policy is horrible and flawed.

Wifi Location Tracking is killing Privacy

<tinfoil hat>

When Google’s “streetview cars” roamed around the world, they were performing wifi scans of their surrounding areas. By mapping the MAC address of your location to the van’s GPS coordinates, they built a map of locations that can accurately find your location, just by knowing the wifi router you’re connected to.

Google claimed this was “by accident”, and many countries objected to the collection of the data and the invasion of privacy.

As of 2010, Google had collected 600 gigabytes of data from over 30 nations. That list is now growing, as each new Android phone that gets purchased has the built-in ability to transfer locations of wireless networks to and from Google’s servers, to help aid in location services on the phone. The unfortunate part is even if you aren’t using these services, Google is still collecting this data via your phone.

So who has your wifi router’s location?

Continue reading Wifi Location Tracking is killing Privacy

How to find the Wireless Channel of the Access Point you are connected to, using netsh

Have you ever tried figuring out the channel of the Wireless Access Point you’re CURRENTLY connected to?  If you’re in a office/corporate environment and have several APs set up in the same area that share the same SSID, knowing which specific AP you’re connected to for troubleshooting can be a pain in the butt.

For Windows users, try this:

In Command Prompt: “netsh wlan show interfaces” (without the quotes)

This is the easiest way I’ve found to quickly help me diagnose which AP I’m connected to when several share the same SSID.

Anyone know an easier way?