Despite the increased capacities of the mobile phone networks in the UK, free Wi-Fi is still a treasured find for many – the ability to reduce data usage and collect hundreds of e-mails through someone else’s connection in a coffee shop seems to be as needed as ever.
The hunt for free Wi-Fi increases when you travel abroad; despite the attempts at harmonisation of data usage tariffs many find the cost of accessing precious megabytes in France or further afield too much. So you must hunt out a hotel lobby, café or bar (preferably the latter) to get back online.
New York has just showcased a plan to turn all of its old and largely redundant telephone booths into super-fast Wi-Fi hotspots. Anyone walking down the street will be able to hop on to a connection to either see what they’ve missed over the last thirty minutes on social media or send a few incongruous tweets. Others will use these services for work, catching up on e-mails and as I’ve witnessed recently in a hotel lobby, holding a full scale multi-national board meeting by video conference – because, with today’s technology, you can.
Regardless of whether you’re pushing bytes through free Wi-Fi for fun or business, the sheer thrill of having a “free” service seems to blinker those connected to a very obvious issue – privacy. Obviously, having a confidential meeting on the streets of New York or even the corner of a hotel lobby is plagued with privacy issues. But what if you’re silently tapping away at Crossy Road while your e-mail syncs up in the background? Since the large scale and well reported hacks of 2015 the public are now more generally aware that organisations who may hold their data could unwillingly release it to nefarious third parties. Businesses should therefore make sure that they are protecting themselves from the dangers that lie with the provision of internet access.
For businesses which offer Wi-Fi to staff, customers and those who loiter outside, it is essential to have a sensible, understandable Wi-Fi policy that explains the dangers of sharing a connection with the rest of the public – and this should always be brought to the user’s attention before they begin to access the internet through your connection. It should also dictate what content should and should not be accessed through the connection and contractually oblige all those on the network to abide by your rules.