SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Privacy advocates are raising concerns about Google Inc.'s plans to cover San Francisco with free wireless Internet access, calling the company's proposal to track users' locations a potential gold mine of information for law enforcement and private litigators. The Mountain View search engine intends to use the geographic data to match users with advertising so that they would see marketing messages from neighborhood businesses such as pizza parlors, cafes and book stores. Google plans to use technology that would allow it to track users' whereabouts within a few hundred feet. The company said in its bid that it would retain the data for up to 180 days before deleting it, as part of an effort to "maintain the Google Wi-Fi network and deliver the best possible service."
Privacy advocates fear the information could by used by government officials to place users under surveillance and are more generally concerned that this new power raises the specter of "Big Brother" run amok. "The greatest concern is that once you have that treasure trove of information, will people start to come looking for it?" said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy watchdog group.
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