Why Google's Not Wrong in Sniffing Wi-Fi Data

Google admitted to sniffing wi-fi data with their streetview cars.  The NYT thinks "Google could be accused of intercepting private communications and violating wiretap laws in the United States".  The flaw with the thought lies in the same article: "nonpassword (sic) protected Wi-Fi networks".

The flaw with the thought of Google violating wiretap laws is that they didn't break into a closed network.  The telephone network is closed (physically).  A wired computer network is closed.  A password protected wi-fi network is closed.  An open wi-fi network is NOT.  This is akin to Google walking down the street with a recorder listening to everyone SHOUTING.

The moral of this is to lock down your wireless network.  The really scary thing for those affected is that even a light-weight hacker could do all kinds of damage to a computer on an open wi-fi network.  In fact, most could do a few things that could be criminally damaging and put someone in jail for years..  The manufacturers of most of the wireless access point or wireless router devices have done a darn good job of making it easy to set encryption on their devices.  The last three I've had any experience with (all from different manufacturers, Apple, Linksys, and Netgear) have idiot-proof instructions.