Google cleared of WiFi snooping

According to the UK's Information Commissioner Office, Google did not grab "significant" personal details when collecting data from WiFi networks, reports The BBC.

The finding came after the body reviewed some of the data Google scooped up from unsecured networks.

Google said the data was "mistakenly" gathered while logging WiFi hotspots to help with location-based services.

According to mobile security firm Lookout, an Android wallpaper application that collected data from users' phones and uploaded it to a site in China was downloaded "millions of times", says The Register.

Kevin MaHaffey, CTO at Lookout, used Jackeey Wallpaper as an example of the wider risk faced by smartphone users during a presentation at the Black Hat security conference, in Vegas, on Wednesday.

Jackeey Wallpaper was uploaded to the Android Market, offering wallpaper themed around Star Wars, My Little Pony, and other popular themes. But according to Lookout, the application also collects a device's phone number, subscriber identifier, and the currently entered voicemail number. This data was then uploaded to a server in China.

A researcher has compiled a list of more than 170 million Facebook users and the Web address of their profile page on the site, and released it on a file-sharing site, meaning it is making the rounds of thousands of computers instead of just being accessible via a search on Facebook, reveals News.com.com.

Ron Bowes wrote a script to download all Facebook profiles listed in the social network's public profile directory, which only includes people who have configured their settings for Public Search Listings to be available on Facebook.

In a blog post earlier this week on Skull Security, Bowes said he downloaded information on 171 million Facebook users, roughly one third of the estimated total of 500 million.

A satellite being launched in November could close the digital divide in the UK, by helping citizens and companies currently underserved by the cable broadband market to get online with vastly improved services, says Computing.co.uk.

The KA-SAT satellite, developed by Eutelsat, will provide broadband to regions where services such as cable and DSL have failed to penetrate, the firm claimed.

"This will be the most powerful satellite in space. It offers 35 times more throughput than traditional KU-band satellites, and can fulfil a crucial role in meeting the broadband needs of 30 million underserved EU citizens," said Guillaume Benoit, project manager at KA-SAT, at an event in Toulouse on Thursday.