Michael Zimmer, PhD, is a digital privacy and data ethics scholar at Marquette University
Even while Earthlink seems to be stepping away from municipal wi-fi projects, San Francisco is introducing a non-binding ballot proposal to gauge citizen interest in blanketing the city in Google/Earthlink hotspots. Nathan Weinberg dug up a copy of the ballot…
Read More San Francisco’s Wi-Fi Plan on November Ballot Proposal
Citing the absence of an acceptable return on investment, Earthlink announced that they are halting all new (and not-yet-completed) municipal wi-fi projects, which presumably includes the problematic San Francisco project (in partnership with Google). I have two initial reactions: First,…
Read More EarthLink to Stop New Municipal Wi-Fi Programs Citing Lack of Profit
Nathan Weinberg complains about the time it has taken to get final government approval for the Google/Earthlink plan to provide municipal wi-fi to the citizens of San Francisco. Weinberg's main argument is that the "Last time I checked, when someone…
Graham Longford, a postdoc at the Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project (CWIRP) at the University of Toronto, has contributed a nice essay on the privacy considerations of municipal wi-fi over at the On the Identity Trail blog. Graham notes many…
Read More Municipal WiFi is Coming, and Why Privacy Advocates Should Care
The City of San Francisco is investigating AT&T's alleged cooperation with the NSA wiretapping and considering possible "consequences" the company could face in its extensive municipal contracts if it is found violating the civil liberties of the city's citizens. Meanwhile,…
Read More San Francisco Investigates AT&T, but what about Google?
Google has responded to some of the privacy concerns with their proposed municipal wi-fi network for the city of San Francisco. In a letter [PDF] sent to the City, they defend requiring a Google Account to access the network, as…
This San Francisco Chronicle article notes that the Google municipal wi-fi service will require users to create a Google account and log on to access the free service. While (savvy) users can create anonymous accounts, requiring a login makes it…
Read More Google Wi-Fi requries Google Account; Info Held 6 Months
Following up on these privacy concerns with municipal wi-fi programs, I am beginning to wonder to what extent the providers of muni-wi-fi (such as Google) might be considered "state agents" when it comes to the collecting of personal information via…
A partnership between Google and Earthlink beat other bids to provide municipal wi-fi to the citizens of San Francisco. While muni-wi-fi is definitely a step towards lessening the digital divide, this particular plan is not as "free" as Google says…
Read More Google Wins Right to Track Wi-Fi Users in San Francisco
Chris Hoofnagle points to a very important article in the Nation by Jeff Chester discussing the privacy costs of many of the proposals for municipal wi-fi, including Google's plan for San Francisco. The benefits of muni-wi-fi are great, but proposals…
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