City expands public’s access to free wireless to 600 spots
It became easier for Vancouver mobile users to find free Wi-Fi on Friday with the activation of hundreds of hot spots throughout the city.
But experts are warning against using public Wi-Fi for transmitting anything private.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson boasted the eventual network of 600 free Wi-Fi locations would make the city tops for free connectivity across Canada, third in North America after New York and Washington, D.C., and among the top 10 cities worldwide.
He said the network supports the city’s digital strategy that benefits residents, companies and visitors.
Shaw has been providing limited free Wi-Fi in some spots since 2014, and is paying for the citywide rollout. Shaw executive vice-president Jim Little wouldn’t disclose the cost.
He also said users do not have to provide personal data to use it.
Little said there was no danger in transmitting personal data, as when people bank online, using the free hot spots.
But the city’s chief digital officer, Jessie Adcock, said while the system has encryptions to safeguard confidentiality, users should take the same precautions they would when using any public Wi-Fi. Privacy experts agreed. “People who use free public WiFi services should think about whether they need to take extra measures to protect the privacy of their personal information and the data they are receiving and transmitting,” Josh Paterson, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said in an email.
He said that can be done by “using an easy-to-set-up virtual private network (VPN) app.”
Hasan Cavusoglu, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said, “There’s also some level of risk when you’re using Wi-Fi when you’re using it in coffee shops and you shouldn’t do online banking or send your credit card information online.”
The free Wi-Fi may reduce data usage charges for some, but it’s unlikely people would ditch their data plans and rely solely on the free hot spots, he said. And it’s unlikely free hot spots will make a difference to service providers’ revenues, he said. The city said 550 hot spots, including along high-traffic areas of the city, such as Broadway between Oak and Cambie streets and Robson Street between Denman and Burrard streets, are running and the other 50 will be up soon. Bandwidth speed will be about 10 MBps and there’s no limit to usage.