Google's poor history on WiFi privacy is worse than first expected, according to a Tech Republic blog which claims the search giant is storing user WPA keys and SSIDs in the cloud.
Android users already knew that. Some willingly accepted the concept when they checked the box on the fourth window, the 'back up' page, of the setup guide.
"Your Google and some third-party applications' settings and other data such as bookmarks and WiFi can be backed-up on Google servers, with your Google Account."
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Users can opt out too, under privacy options.
SC Magazine Australia has asked Google for a response, including on the blog post's implication that the company has a super-repository of wireless keys, which seems unlikely.
However, it raises issues of ownership of keys. There may be implicit trust that a user of a WPA network would not share keys, and storing them in Google's cloud could be a breach of this.
But WiFi passwords can be cracked anyway through means easier than intercepting keys sent to a Google account.
Yet Google's hunger for user data was only days ago laid bare after a CNET US investigation found it had collected location information on mobile devices that had tethered wireless access.
The company was not distinguishing between a static access point and a mobile, and plotting the locations on its mapping service.
Google had tried to purge the information, because only static access point were valuable to build its maps.
The poignant lessons here for Google is to ensure transparency with the way it handles customer data, and for users, that they read privacy agreements and maintain sovereignty and vigilance over their most sensitive data.
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