Google allows 'opting out' of Wi-Fi tracking

Google has been under the scanner of the European regulators, ever since it admitted to having kept a track of the personal details of their users, albeit mistakenly over the Internet using their wireless routers. Now, an official blog post by Google confirms that almost a year and a half later, users can choose to stay clear of having their personal details being sneaked into, by opting out of the tracking feature. The post further states that even though the wireless access point of information used by Google in their location database did not reveal names, Google wants to bring these issues to the fore and solve them.

Opt out if you choose to

Those who want to 'opt-out' of Google's location tracking feature, can do so. Just " visit your access point’s settings and change the wireless network name (or SSID) so that it ends with “_nomap." To get this done, users will have to click here and follow the instructions provided. Google explains that they chose this mode of 'opt-out' over the others, since it had the "right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse" and that no one else could opt the user out without his or her permission.

More from News Analysis

What do you think about this move by Google?