The spirit of giving has hit Google. They are generously providing free Wi-Fi at 47 airports from November 10, 2009 to January 15, 2010. That's great, but there are a few precautions you should take to keep yourself safe.
Using the free service is simple. You simply select the free Wi-Fi and accept the terms of service and there's no need to give any form of payment. However, Google wants you to catch the giving spirit and give a donation to any of the three non-profit organizations [1] they've partnered with. But, donate [1]once you're using a secure Internet connection at home - not on the Wi-Fi network. In addition to providing free Wi-Fi, Google's having a photo contest. You could win a prize just for submitting a photo [2] of you using the free Wi-Fi.
You can take advantage of Google's generosity at one of the following 47 airports:
| Austin (AUS [4]) | Indianapolis (IND [5]) | Panama City, FL (PFN [6]) |
|
Baltimore (BWI [7]) |
Jacksonville, FL (JAX [8]) | Pittsburgh, PA (PIT [9]) |
| Billings (BIL [10]) | Kalamazoo (AZO [11]) | Portland, ME (PWM [12]) |
| Boston (BOS [13]) | Las Vegas (LAS [14]) | Sacramento (SMF [15]) |
| Bozeman (BZN [16]) | Louisville (SDF [17]) | San Antonio (SAT [18]) |
| Buffalo, NY (BUF [19]) | Madison (MSN [20]) | San Diego (SAN [21]) |
| Burbank (BUR [22]) | Memphis (MEM [23]) | San Jose (SJC [24]) |
|
Central Wisconsin (CWA [25]) |
Miami (MIA [26]) | Seattle (SEA [27])* |
| Charlotte, NC (CLT [28]) | Milwaukee (MKE [29]) | South Bend (SBN [30]) |
| Des Moines (DSM [31]) | Monterey (MRY [32]) | Spokane (GEG [33]) |
| El Paso (ELP [34]) | Nashville (BNA [35]) | St. Louis (STL [36]) |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL [37]) | Newport News (PHF [38]) | State College (SCE [39]) |
| Fort Myers (RSW [40]) | Norfolk (ORF [41]) | Toledo (TOL [42]) |
| Greensboro (GSO [43]) | Oklahoma City (OKC [44]) | Travers City (TVC [45]) |
| Houston Hobby (HOU [46]) | Omaha (OMA [47]) | West Palm Beach (PBI [48]) |
| Houston Bush (IAH [49]) | Orlando (MCO [50]) |
*Seattle launches late November
Airport Wi-Fi - like other public hotspots - is not secure and you should avoid logging into your bank account or other sites with sensitive info. Wireless network security can be compromised and put your passwords and other data out in the air and available to a fellow traveler with the right hacking tools.
We don't mean to scare you out of using the Google's Wi-Fi gift but to educate you about the potential risks
Here are some tips on how to protect yourself when using any Wi-Fi connection:
This video from Forbes provides more details on what you should watch out for:
Check out Google's Free Wi-Fi for the Holidays [51] site and their FAQ page [52] for more details.
Links:
[1] http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/give-back/
[2] http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/photo-contest/
[3] http://fightidentitytheft.com/%20%20%20a.href%20%20%20
[4] http://www.google.com/search?q=AUS airport
[5] http://www.google.com/search?q=IND airport
[6] http://www.google.com/search?q=PFN airport
[7] http://www.google.com/search?q=BWI airport
[8] http://www.google.com/search?q=JAX airport
[9] http://www.google.com/search?q=PIT airport
[10] http://www.google.com/search?q=BIL airport
[11] http://www.google.com/search?q=AZO airport
[12] http://www.google.com/search?q=PWM airport
[13] http://www.google.com/search?q=BOS airport
[14] http://www.google.com/search?q=LAS airport
[15] http://www.google.com/search?q=SMF airport
[16] http://www.google.com/search?q=BZN airport
[17] http://www.google.com/search?q=SDF airport
[18] http://www.google.com/search?q=SAT airport
[19] http://www.google.com/search?q=BUF airport
[20] http://www.google.com/search?q=MSN airport
[21] http://www.google.com/search?q=SAN airport
[22] http://www.google.com/search?q=BUR airport
[23] http://www.google.com/search?q=MEM airport
[24] http://www.google.com/search?q=SJC airport
[25] http://www.google.com/search?q=CWA airport
[26] http://www.google.com/search?q=MIA airport
[27] http://www.google.com/search?q=SEA airport
[28] http://www.google.com/search?q=CLT airport
[29] http://www.google.com/search?q=MKE airport
[30] http://www.google.com/search?q=SBN airport
[31] http://www.google.com/search?q=DSM airport
[32] http://www.google.com/search?q=MRY airport
[33] http://www.google.com/search?q=GEG airport
[34] http://www.google.com/search?q=ELP airport
[35] http://www.google.com/search?q=BNA airport
[36] http://www.google.com/search?q=STL airport
[37] http://www.google.com/search?q=FLL airport
[38] http://www.google.com/search?q=PHF airport
[39] http://www.google.com/search?q=SCE airport
[40] http://www.google.com/search?q=RSW airport
[41] http://www.google.com/search?q=ORF airport
[42] http://www.google.com/search?q=TOL airport
[43] http://www.google.com/search?q=GSO airport
[44] http://www.google.com/search?q=OKC airport
[45] http://www.google.com/search?q=TVC airport
[46] http://www.google.com/search?q=HOU airport
[47] http://www.google.com/search?q=OMA airport
[48] http://www.google.com/search?q=PBI airport
[49] http://www.google.com/search?q=IAH airport
[50] http://www.google.com/search?q=MCO airport
[51] http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/
[52] http://www.freeholidaywifi.com/faq/