Google's South Korean offices raided by police as part of Street View investigation
By Vlad Savov 
posted August 10th 2010 6:40AM
posted August 10th 2010 6:40AM
[Thanks, D. Kim]
posted August 10th 2010 6:40AM
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oh man....
@arif
really
@arif
that was interesting arif, but can you elaborate? I would like to discuss this issue deeper.
@arif I don't think South Korea want to mess with SkyNet....
@Apple Google Microsoft
I, for one, do care about this. Google's attitude to privacy is appalling and I would like to see Eric Schmidt slow-roasted on a spit over his willful abuse of his customers' data without their knowledge or consent.
@arif
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUH3JQjcweM
@arif This had nothing to do with Street View. Apparently someone left the iPhone 5 on a desk somewhere in that Google HQ and Apple just wanted it back.
@iooioio
Appalling how?
Makes you wonder what South Korea has to hide... Hmmmmm....
@iooioio
what the hell does Schmidt have to do with this? He oversees Google, he doesnt run every department.
one a unrelated note i hope South Korea's cyber crime division is still lead by Motoko Kusanagi.
@arif
Consequences will never be the same!
Stop Picking on poor google!!! ,they are only trying to make a more cool internet full of knowledge and freedom :( dam goverments
@n1hmrd
It's a matter of time before they buy a country and make their own government, don't you worry! ;)
@n1hmrd
-- This comment was deleted by the Korean Government. --
@fpad77
;_; This is South Korea, not North Korea.
Not looking so different right now, are they...
@n1hmrd Meanwhile, in my experience Daum has better street view images and functionality for SK. This definitely sounds like enforcing one letter of the law too strictly or allowing domestic firms an unfair competitive advantage.
I wonder which western Government put Korea up to this ?
@MikeGSY That would be the Government of Cupertino, CA...
@MikeGSY Despite being at the forefront of tech, SK is really, really uptight about GPS and similar tech when it comes to consumers and privacy. Less than a year ago they finally allowed the iPhone into the country, and the biggest hurdle was location-based services, changing laws to allow for it.
The really weird thing about this is, I believe Daum has better street view maps in Korea (based on my limited sample). Therefore, I think this is partially a protectionist measure to keep one of it's largest search engines at the top of the game.
So they basically Zerg Rushed the Google offices...
@Hobsie
The Google Ghosts are targetting the place now.
@Hobsie +5 for being the first commenter to use a Starcraft joke.
@Hobsie Don't worry, Google has a few expansions that haven't been scouted yet.
@Hobsie So damn Korean..
@Hobsie
And all they found were big piles of cash, some website links and a big fat guy.
@Worm in the Apple
Hehe, I just got back from Seoul on a business trip last week. Never been destroyed at Starcraft so fast in my life...
That is also how I imagine the Google office rush went :P
@Hobsie Heh, the Google should have put up more columns.
@Worm in the Apple
I'm pretty sure Google was ready to use Siege Tanks but Schmidt said, "Not yet....."
@Hobsie OMG ZERG RUSH KEKEKE!!! good timing too with the release of SC2 >.
Why don't they simply sue billions out of them?
Cases like these can bring companies to the ground.
@Diver
Because you won't be able to sue enough for the simple idea of you connecting to unsecured wifi networks on accident and you got a single word out of it.
billions? Like pocket change to Google
Google cannot be all good.
Do no evil hey Google?
@Sicarius123 oh come on. Having a look at the world around you is not an evil thing. Now where did you save your passwords :|
Steve already said that google is evil.
Is it only me who doesn't really see this as a big deal? If you care that much, you should have just stopped your Wi-Fi from broadcasting. End of.
Well I like google but i don't want them to check or save all my porn search history.... Lol jk
@jhy2139
More than porn is at risk here. The internet has become a place to do all sorts of communication so we must be using encryption in all confidential situations. I have 2 words for everyone: "internet sex" :$
Why do morons have their WiFi not secure. Its not Google,s fault that people have open WiFi
@Makali morons are supposed to have their WiFi unsecured
It's not unauthorized data if your network isn't secure IMO.
@Distant
So if you ever leave your house or car unlocked, you wont mind if i help myself to your belongings right?
and what important lesson did this teach us?
just shut the fuck about anything bad that happens in your company.
because governments just wait for you to act responsible and try to beat such character traits out of you.
AWESOME!
@pfanne
Um, it's kinda difficult to shut up about this particular bad after German government discovered it was happening in the first place. I'm pretty sure the "don't be evil" company would never reveal the dirt themselves, unless they were pressed to do it. So yes, government work can be good for people too.
And, oh yeah, I find the amount of US commenters shocked with a foreign goverment auditing US company funny. I bet if it was US government doing it, there would be way less shock going around. Just my personal opinion.
@Goran
ah ok.
i was misinformed on that part.
thought google just came out about that for no reason.
didnt know the government took notice of that before.
@pfanne
No worries, here's the link to the original story, I'm sure there's many more details in other reports. BTW, German gov. has forbidden use of Streetview cars until the end of 2010.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/14/street-view-cars-mistakenly-nabs-personal-data-over-wifi-says-g/
I think at some point, open wifi connections will be the legal equivalent of being out on the street: no expectation of privacy. You have no legal expectation of privacy once you put your garbage out, why would you with unsecured wifi?
I really don't get it.
What kind of information can Google retrieve from WiFi access points? And what are they supposed to do with that information?
@peterwarbo
Sell it.
And it would be ignorant to believe that they did not know what they were doing.
Info that they have taken is priceless to advert companies. They know what you look at, and how often as well. Some more personal info can be gained by doing a simple IP search, and voila, you have a "customer". All their contact info, Facebook page, where they shop, what porn sites they go to...
Mind you one customers info is worth less than a buck, but added up across North America, some MAJOR coin is to be had. And had is all you will be if you believe that Google didnt know that this code found its way into its street cars a FULL year after it was made, and "scraped".