After public scrutiny of Microsoft’s Wifi Location Database service, Microsoft this week announced that it would be reworking the service, and will cease the publication of device locations. A CNET article which highlighted privacy issues with the service was enough to cause Microsoft to reconsider its use.
The geolocation service was used to publish the exact geographical locations of wifi devices by using information from Windows Phone 7 phones and as Microsoft refers to it, “managed driving” using Street View-like vehicles which actually record wifi signals that can be accessed via public roads–all using MAC addresses.